He sat at his desk wondering what he’d done to warrant this. His family had little money with which to send him to college. At night, he washed dishes at a burger joint, arriving home near midnight, studying all night for his exam the next morning. His drunken roommates blazed their stereos as he stared out his window, empty.

She spent all night throwing up; her cancer medication wreaked havoc on her appetite. Reluctant to let herself down, she stayed awake all night, worrying if she’d have the energy to take her exam the next morning. She fell asleep on her books that night.

Exhausted, they trekked to class the next morning, working on their exams until their professor called time. After all was said and done, they passed with mediocre grades. Their peers aced the class; they told themselves they would work harder next time.

Success is relative. When the stars align and things go our way, the road to fame is easy. Humans love to pit one another against each other. The playing field is never even, but we will never see this. Instead, we will compare ourselves to everyone else.

It is ingrained in our genes to compete; we all want to be the best. Our happiness begs to differ. At times, we take the high road, burning ourselves out before we even realize it, all to keep ourselves competitive in this society. The lure of achievement seduces us, manipulates our rationality.

But it is not grades, awards, recognition or scholarship that defines our success. Neither is it what career we have or how much money we make. Rather, Booker T. Washington puts it best: “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”

Tarif Haque is a sophomore majoring in computer science.