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Student Competition's co-founder Gustav Borgefalk writes about the similarities between sports and academic competitions and explain what Student Competition's slogan "Challenge Yourself - Challenge the World" really means.

The bar shudders. A missed penalty. Broken dreams. New hope for others. 

Competitions brings us together

The World Cup quarter final between Ghana and Uruguay last year depicted the most innate emotions of a competition. Anger. Frustration. Fear. Hope. Joy. 

Competitions unite people. When you fight together, you tie bonds with other people, make friendships and create meaning. You unite for something larger than yourself. This is the essence of the competition and the foundations of the World Cup. Right now, one of the world's largest competitons is gathering million - even billions of people together, to watch their champions clash in the South African stadiums, to defend their countries, cultures and people's pride.

It is well known that sports bring people together. Wars are fought fiercly every day, but they are often paused when the Olympic flame is burning. There is a mutual respect for the games, which is honored globally. People who used to be enemies come lay down their arms and unite in the celebration that comes with a good competition.

It is quite amazing that for football, there are global superstars, but for academia, there are very few. The Nobel Prize is probably the most renown prize for academic excellence, but before that, what can you win? Which are the World Cups, the National Championships and academic competitions for students and where are the superstars?

Creating an arena for global top talent

Student Competitions want to bring academics what the World Cup brings to football. We want to create an arena where talent knows no boundaries and everyone can compete on the  same terms globally. We want to inject the competition spirit into academics and encourage that you fight together, not with hands or guns, but with brains.

Competition is a sound state which spurs excellence and pushes the individual to develop skills one never though were possible. Competition makes you push yourself beyond your own limits. You grow. You develop. You evolve as a human being. 

Your greatest limitations are in your head. As William Arthur Ward said: "If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it." You too can become a winner. Everyone can. 

Student Competition's motto is simple but embraces this: Challenge Yourself - Challenge the World. If there is one thing the World Cup has taught us, it is that talent knows no geographical boundaries. You were born to shine. Everyone has the capacity to win, with enough practice. 

It all starts with yourself. Many people do not participate in competitions because they are afraid of failure, afraid that they are not good enough. Afraid that they are wasting their time. It is extremely common among students that you underestimate your powers and skills.

Hear this: You are great. You were born to perform great things. Do not let anyone tell you that you can not do things, because you have the power to do anything. If you want it bad enough, with enough time and practice, it can become reality.

However, many students are limited by their fears. In order to become succesful, there is nothing more important than facing your fears. You do not learn new things unless you rid yourself of the fear of failure. Because in order to become really successful, you will need to try a lot and fail a lot. Mark my words that every failure you make will make you stronger. Practice makes perfect. Failure is a natural part of this. If you do not challenge yourself, you do not evolve. 

When you face your fears and do something that scares you, you challenge yourself. This is the first step. Go out tomorrow and do something which scares you.

Do something different and Challenge Yourself.

Next, when you feel ready - you Challenge the World. 

I wish you the best of luck with your contributions and remain,

Yours sincerely, 

Gustav Borgefalk
Co-founder, Student Competitions
gustav@studentcompetitions.com