Argumentative Essay_SAT Prompt 2

A team of disabled students participated in SoC Robot War 2011, a robot making contest. Despite the adverse situation they were in, they seemed to endeavor to complete their tasks without any advantages. Although their outcome did not appear to be the best, they could win a special reward because their process and manners were highly evaluated. However, this kind of case rarely happens in reality. Setting too much value on winning leads to a tendency to condone the immoral means and an attitude of thinking about the results only.

             Accentuating winning above everything else brings immorality among community members since it makes us overlook the expedients. We strive, by hook or by crook, to achieve the goal of being the ‘first.’ For instance, bribery scandals among sports players were big issues on every mass media. According to an article from Joong-Ang Daily, more than 50 soccer players of K League paid the opponent teams a huge sum of money in return for their cooperation in match-fixing. The amount of such transactions exceeded 20 million won for each game. Therefore, Jong Kwan Jeong, who was involved in this bribery, committed suicide due to the sting of conscience. In this way, society emphasizing winning too much led us to keep our eyes closed to vices and not to care about the processes.

             Winner-oriented society looks only at the results and ignores the processes. Since the outcome is what is shown to others, society evaluates who we are only based upon the outcomes. The attitude of some students in my class after the mid-term exam consolidated my belief. For the mid-term exam, I really strived to achieve my goal I had set. However, my result was not much different from students who hastily prepared just a day before the test. Some students who did not see how I studied considered me as some as the ones who did not spend enough time to study. Thus, the process seemed useless since my ability was assessed by the results only.

A fervent desire for victory has brought about an utter disregard for the social morals, and has instigated individuals to climb up the ladder of success by crushing others in the process. The example of K League players and my personal experience validate the stance, revealing the folly of being preoccupied with winning. Having one’s mind set on victory only, indeed, leads to one’s ruination.