Recently, I heard a commercial on the radio stating boldly "Playing is fun, but winning is even more fun." This applies to competitions for students as well: participating is fun, but we all agree that winning is much more gratifying. And just like with poker, every decision you make affects your chances of winning, starting with the choice of a table (in poker) or a particular competition or conference for students (in our case). For example, if Lady Gaga went to a quantum physics competition, what are her chances of winning? I would say, approaching zero. She is a great singer and an amazing show woman, but that doesn't make her a good candidate for any competition. The bottom line is: it is crucial to choose the right competition for you.
When looking at student competitions 2011, keep that in mind. First, start by evaluating your own strengths, knowledge, and abilities they may not necessarily align 100% with your major or degree, so be careful there. Even if you are a bio-chemistry major, for example, an essay competition could prove to be an amazing fit for you if you've been writing for yourself since you were in the elementary. To make it easier for you to identify your strengths, you can start by making a list of interests, hobbies, etc. Alternately, you could just browse through the categories of competitions for students on websites that list student competitions and write down the ones that make sense to you.
Once you've identified the general fields that you are interested in, focus on the specific topics of the competitions. There could be so many different topics within a single field that one could be entirely relevant to you while another couldn't be further from what your interests.
The next step is to figure out whether you want a competition or a conference where you go solo or with a team. If you know the right people, by all means, go for the team. However, if you can't think of anyone, don't force it. You might be great, but if your teammates are not, it's not worth it.
Some other questions to ask yourself when continuing to narrow down conferences and competitions for students are:
- How many participants are there going to be?
- How competitive is it?
- What is the format?
- Is it very time consuming?
- Does it require a lot of preliminary preparation?
- Are you expected to travel to a particular location or do you just send materials?
- Are you going to have to think on your feet?
- What companies or other third parties are involved?
- How can you benefit from the event?
Most importantly, don't enter a competition just for the lack of a better thing to do.
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