I am reminded by all the beautiful wisdom above that, at least here in the United States, competition between and amongst humans is essentially the basis for a huge segment of our culture and all of our economy. Won't say a word more, because I am triggering myself just thinking about how I feel about this--sorry if I triggered anyone else's trauma in this realm, but thought that perhaps this should be at least mentioned here. Our nation is not in balance.

By far the best educational experience of my stupidly, unnecessarily lengthy educational experience all happened between 6th and 12th grade, where I was in a small school that did not believe in grades. I never got a grade until I got to college. We got lengthy comments, instead. That personal journey, growth-oriented approach to life is much more my speed than what most of America seems to be today.