This is the reason when I wake up every morning that I pick my feet up no matter how heavy they may feel. Whether it’s a game of rock-paper-scissors or a championship game, victory feels so good. It’s like there is a fire within us that can only be fed by one thing: winning.

But, is this always really a good thing?

The competitive instinct most of us have is likely a result of the way our distant ancestors had to act. If they did not get more food or supplies than their peers, they would starve and die. Nearly every competition for them would decide if they would live to see another day.

I have seen many people get into arguments just to feel a sense of victory.

This has evolved into the curse of competition in the modern human. No matter the importance of the contest, losing still feels awful.

I have a brother who is four years older, and he was much bigger than me when we were younger. Since both of us are athletes, we constantly competed with each other. We butted heads at home, having arguments ranging from backyard football to video games. Even when I beat him in something like a video game, he always had another way he could beat me—in a physical altercation. No matter how many times I tried, it felt like I could never beat him in a fight.

So, as the years went on, I challenged him less and less. I started to realize that this just wasn’t a competition I really needed to win, especially because it was a really hard one. This may seem like a crazy story but it taught me one important lesson: Being the “winner” doesn’t always mean you won.

Let me explain. If my brother and I disagreed, I could try to explain myself peacefully or I could insult him and eventually we would get into a fight. Even if I somehow beat him up, he would resent me and would fail to listen to my argument. Due to his physical advantage, I chose the peaceful route more often and I noticed that we wouldn’t fight as much. Any disagreements we had could be settled with a peaceful conversation.

As much as I wanted to prove he was wrong and rub it in his face, that was just unnecessary drama. I learned that I would not be the loser in a competition if there never were a competition. I could achieve my goal of proving I was right to my brother without even having to win an argument, because there never was one.

Through this ideology I have found it much easier to be persuasive in life and more effectively influence others.

I have been thinking about the concept of competition a lot because of the current events we are facing as a society. With the recent elections, events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the social unrest we are seeing as a result of racial injustice, I have never seen such a polarized population. I blame social media for a lot of this, as things seem to escalate at the speed of light nowadays.

I have seen many people get into arguments just to feel a sense of victory.

I am not saying having arguments is necessarily bad; we are fortunate to have the right to disagree in America. What I am saying is that we should all step back and think about better ways to achieve our goals as a society.

Almost like the way athletes compete to prove who is the best, many people argue their political beliefs just to feel like they are the best or the smartest, and they could never be wrong. We need to work harder to understand each other and remember that not everything needs to be a competition.

Unlike our ancient ancestors who were constantly competing, often in life-or-death situations, in our society this is not the case.

So why must we act like it? Yes, there may be a lot to argue about right now as our world is in turmoil, but acting like cavemen fighting for firewood will not save us.

If we are unable to grasp this concept soon, our behavior will destroy us.

Narvin Chhay is a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ junior majoring in sport and exercise science. He can be reached at narvinc@knights.ucf.edu.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Forum is a weekly series of opinion columns from faculty, staff and students who serve on a panel for a year. A new column is posted each Wednesday on Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Today and then broadcast on WÂ鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝-FM (89.9) between 7:50 and 8 a.m. Sunday. Opinions expressed are those of the columnists, and are not necessarily shared by the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝.

“I’m so grateful God led me to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝. My story here is not finished.”

— McKenzie Milton

“You might have a hard time understanding this. But as chaotic as football can be, it’s actually calming to me. My time away from the game has made me realize that it really is an escape. All of your day-to-day problems go away on the field. It’s another reason I’m putting in so much work to play again.”

“I see the scar on my leg every day. It reminds me of how far I’ve come. All the surgeries. All the rehab. My leg went from looking terrible to looking better … to looking terrible again and then better. So when I look at where I am today, I’m excited to think of the plan God has for me a year from now.”

“January could be a big month. Hopefully, the doctors will let me get out of my brace and clear me to start running. If it happens, great. If not, I’ve learned to just bite my lip and keep working.”

“There are three big motivators for me. My family will always be a motivation. There’s also the fact that the struggle to come back is just you against you — it’s asking yourself, “How badly do you want this?” And third, (defensive back) Brandon Moore is also recovering from a bad knee injury. We keep each other going.”

“My situation has put a lot of everyday details into perspective. I don’t take walking for granted. Or being able to put shoes on. Some people are never able to do those things. I’m blessed to do whatever I can do and especially to have the people who have supported me.”

“My mom has been living with me since the injury. When I go back to my apartment at the end of the day I see Mili (his Maltese named after Mililani, the town where he grew up in Hawaii) and I smell mom’s food. It makes me feel like a kid again, like everything is OK.”

“Family is really important in Hawaii. It was hard to leave after my senior year of high school, but I needed to spread my wings. Anywhere on the mainland is a long way from home. I visited Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s campus in February and saw the beauty and the green all around. It reminded me of home at that time of year — except with no mountains.”

“I wanted to go back home after my freshman year. My dad said, “Going to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ was your first grown-man decision, so don’t quit.” I literally thank God that I stuck it out.”

“The most memorable moment so far? Mike Hughes returning that kickoff for the touchdown to beat USF in 2017. A week later we won the conference championship and then the Peach Bowl against Auburn. Just two years out from being 0-12, we went 12-0 and became a household brand nationwide. You can go to a school accustomed to winning, but it’s incredible to be here while something special is being built.”

“Senior Night was not goodbye. I saw it as an opportunity to share a moment with the guys I came into Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ with, to walk out with them in front of my family and their families.”

“People might always ask me about the injury. And that’s OK. It’s now a part of me and my story. I’ll do everything possible to play in the NFL, but I’m at peace knowing God is the author and that He has my story written. I look forward to living it out, however it goes.”

“A lot of my teammates come from places where they don’t have much. For them to make it at a major D-1 program is way bigger than me coming back from my injury.”

“I’ll be a better coach because of this. The adversity will allow me to empathize with others. I recognize that physical pain is one thing, but mental and spiritual pain is even tougher. A lot of my teammates come from places where they don’t have much. For them to make it at a major D-1 program is way bigger than me coming back from my injury.”

“One quote about coaching has always stuck with me. Billy Graham said, “A coach will affect more people in one year than most people will affect in a lifetime.” At a certain age, boys can go one of two ways. That’s why I’m taking post-graduate classes in educational leadership. I want to develop boys the right way — into grown men.”

“Look at those kids on the field. That’s Dillon (Gabriel) showing a youth team from Hawaii around. How cool is that? Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ has become a favorite college team on Oahu. After I came, then it was Dillon, Lokahi (Pauole), and Canton [Kaumatule]. It’s an honor to have started a little pipeline from Hawaii to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝.”

“There are a lot of memories down there. But being carted off the field isn’t the way I want to end my career. The triumphs and tragedies you share with your guys … there’s nothing quite like it. I’ll work my butt off until I’m ready to roll with them again. I’m so grateful God led me to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝. My story here is not finished.”

The officers started their field training in February and were sworn into the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝PD family Monday by Chief Richard Beary.

“The thing we cherish here is the ability to help the public but also to come up with new ideas and creative ideas to save lives and provide the service that we do,” Chief Beary said.

After completing their classroom and field training, the new officers will be paired with a patrol officer to get hands-on experience on the road. Once they’ve completed that training, they will be assigned to patrol.

The new officers are:

Click to watch a Facebook live video of the swearing-in ceremony.

Besides being a track and field athlete, he aspired to be a high-school science teacher and was working towards a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in physics. His career path changed after reading about Exercise Science Master’s and Ph.D. programs in a University of Nebraska-Lincoln brochure during his junior year at Concordia University in Seward, Neb.

Stout changed his major after learning Concordia University was going to offer a bachelor of science degree in exercise science. He was the first student to graduate in the program and later received his master of physical education degree in exercise science and an Exercise Physiology Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Neb.

Stout is fascinated with exercise physiology because “exercise has an effect on every physiological system in the human body, and how we manipulate exercise intensity, volume and mode can cause wide-ranging effects on the body.”

He also says “nutrition and exercise training are related intimately to athletic performance, and nutrition is a major factor for an athlete reaching their genetic potential.”

Stout has applied his research into practice by publishing more than 220 studies, eight books and 10 book chapters during his career.

For the past 25 years, Stout has been a member of research teams that have examined the impact of youth-sport participation on growth and development. He has also researched the influence of various nutritional supplements and its effects on body composition and exercise performance with men and women in different age groups. His main focus has been on skeletal muscle fatigue, which is a key factor in human performance in all age groups.

He provided service by consulting with Olympic athletes and professional baseball and football teams at no charge in the past. Stout’s expertise has also gone the distance in the NASCAR industry. He was contacted by Yates Racing’s owner Robert Yates while he was an assistant professor of exercise science at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. 15 years ago.

Yates asked for Stout’s assistance with getting his pit crew into better physical shape and improving their pit-stop time on the racetrack. NASCAR pit crews hustle while changing four 75-pound tires, filling up stock cars with 50-pound gallons of gas and washing the windows in under 20 seconds.

Stout’s challenge was breaking down the pit crews’ movements and determining how to improve their power and speed. Stout coordinated with a strength-conditioning coach about conducting specialized exercises three times a week while he provided the pit crew with a nutritional and dietary supplement program. The plan of action worked and resulted in the pit crew significantly improving pit times and winning NASCAR’s biggest prize, the Winston Cup championship, at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Penn. in 2001.

His accomplishments have continued at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ College of Education and Human Performance. Stout received the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s prestigious 2013 William J. Kraemer Outstanding Sport Scientist and 2015 Educator of the Year Awards during his tenure.

Persistence and hard work also paid off for the sport and exercise science’s faculty and doctoral students. The Ph.D. program was recently ranked sixth in the nation by the National Academy of Kinesiology.

Stout is proud of the vanguard program and says “great grad students and a team approach among faculty will always foster success every time.”

The CEDHP sport and exercise science faculty and graduate students conduct research in five state-of-the-art labs. The faculty mentor the students throughout the research process providing them with a chance to be principal investigators on funded studies, write and publish papers, teach and deliver presentations at national meetings.

Stout feels the labs are creating remarkable results that will help athletes in the long run.

“What’s exciting about the Institute for Exercise Physiology and Wellness is our capability to conduct translational research with animals and humans. We have examined the effect of different recovery modalities on immune response, cell signaling, oxidative stress and performance post-muscle damaging exercise. The results along with many other studies help practitioners like athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches and nutritionists develop recovery strategies for their athletes and to keep them healthy.”

In addition to being a professor and sports-nutrition expert along with spending quality time with his family and American Akita dog Sumo, Stout has a black belt (Shodan) in judo and enjoys coaching and watching his children Nicole, 18 and Jeffrey, 16 compete in national and international judo competitions.

Stout is passionate about teaching and advises students “to choose a school with a program that actively conducts sport and exercise science research because they’re the ones that are most up to date.”

Stout is proud of his CEDHP achievements but feels it wouldn’t be possible without the college’s assistance.

“I’m thankful for all of the support CEDHP has provided over the past four years. We would have never received our sixth place ranking as one of the best Ph.D. Exercise Physiology programs in the country. That’s what I’m most proud of at CEDHP.”

NAK promotes the study and educational applications of the art and science of human movement and physical activity, and conducts a doctoral program review every five years.

Fifty-two academic programs participated in NAK’s 2015 Doctoral Program Review. The organization used metrics to conduct an objective evaluation of the faculty’s productivity, funding and visibility and analyzed student admissions, graduate assistant support, doctoral publications and employment rates during a five-year span from Jan. 1, 2010 through Dec. 31, 2014.

CEDHP’s Department of Educational and Human Sciences chair and Sport and Exercise Science professor Jay Hoffman has been building the exercise physiology doctoral program for the past five years. He was ecstatic about the NAK doctoral program review ranking.

“There wasn’t a sport and exercise science program when I first came to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝. I built the program from scratch. We went from zero to sixth in the nation by submitting four years of data to the National Academy of Kinesiology’s five-year doctoral program review. This is a big accomplishment for our faculty and students.”

Hoffman recruited professor Jeffrey Stout from the University of Oklahoma three years ago. He had participated in the NAK doctoral program review during his employment at the University of Oklahoma. The university was number 26 when he first came onboard, and helped raise its NAK doctoral program review ranking to 17. He was blown away by the results of the recent CEDHP rankings.

“Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ has never been on this list, so to be ranked in the Top 10 in our field, and higher than Penn State, Florida State University and some of the other big-name schools in the country is quite an accomplishment for a university that is barely over 50 years old.”

CEDHP Dean Pamela Carroll is proud of the sport and exercise science’s exercise physiology doctoral program’s ranking.

“The sport and exercise science faculty is exceptionally talented and hard working. They not only push the field forward, but ensure that their graduate students have meaningful and funded research experiences and publish and present their research. The program is an excellent example of a group who sets high standards and works together to achieve them.”

The NAK doctoral program review also ranked CEDHP’s program number one in faculty publications and presentations. The program’s Institute of Exercise Physiology and Wellness, one of the most advanced exercise performance and lab facilities in the country, provides the faculty and students with a hub for research in its body composition, strength and conditioning, exercise biochemistry and human performance labs at CEDHP and another lab at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ College of Medicine.

Doctoral candidate Jeremy Townsend obtains hands-on experience in the labs and is honored to be a part of this high ranking.

“The ranking is a real testament to the hard work my advisers and fellow lab teammates have accomplished over the years. The ranking also benefits future doctoral program graduates because it shows that they’re from one of the top-tier labs in the country.”

During the past five years, the sport and exercise science program’s undergraduate program has grown from 400 to more than 1,300 students, and there are nearly an additional 100 students in the graduate program.

Doctoral students must have a high GRE score, strong work ethic, letters of recommendation and undergo an interview process with Hoffman and Stout.

The doctoral program, which Hoffman says “has a 100 percent success and hiring rate with tenure-track positions” is providing students with a chance to be principal investigators on grant studies, write and publish papers, teach and conduct presentations at national meetings and for prospective employers, and is giving them real-world experience.

The program’s doctoral alumni are making a mark in their careers. Georgia Southern University’s assistant professor of exercise science and alumnus Adam Wells ’15 feels the exercise physiology doctoral program prepared him for his future and is proud of its NAK doctoral program review ranking.

“The program set me up for success from day one. The guidance and opportunities provided by Dr. Hoffman and the Institute of Exercise Physiology and Wellness’ faculty enabled me to develop expertise in a number of areas related to exercise physiology. I was able to enter the job market with a highly desirable skill set and a competitive publication record. I’m delighted that the program has been recognized at such a high level and am proud to be one of the first doctoral students to graduate from the program.”

The event, sponsored by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s College of Education, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, in the Morgridge International Reading Center at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s main campus. The forum is free and open to the public, and registration is required.

The forum will be led by professors Jay Hoffman and Jeffrey Stout from the Sport and Exercise Science program. Experts on conditioning, strength training and nutrition, they’ll discuss how to improve and monitor athletes’ performances.

The forum will feature opportunities for athletes, parents and coaches to test on equipment in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s Human Performance Laboratory. Experts also will answer questions about hydration, nutritional needs, overtraining, dietary supplements and other topics.

Free parking will be available in Garage A. For more information on the event, call 407-823-0211.

The scholarship is dedicated to the memory of Patrick Roche, a graduate of Sport and Fitness, who exemplified the core values of the program (now the Sport and Exercise Science program) while pursuing his passion despite medical and physical challenges. Also in attendance were Bob and Andrea Roche, parents of the scholarship’s namesake.

Also at the Clermont campus on Tuesday, proceeds from the recent 4th annual Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Charity Challenge 5K race were presented to two organizations.

Nancy Sawyer, senior vice president in charge of programs for Special Olympics Florida, was presented with $4,000, and Jeffrey Muddell, vice president of the Arnold Palmer Medical Center Foundation, was presented with $3,000.

The money was raised April 14 when students from the Sport and Exercise Science program in South Lake hosted the race that drew 198 participants.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝’s medal winners represent ten sports programs. The women’s rowing team led the way with six student-athletes, followed closely by the women’s soccer and softball teams with five each.

At least 32 Knights have earned medals during three of the last four years.

“Achieving a GPA of 3.75 or higher is a tremendous accomplishment for our student-athletes, who work hard in their classes while balancing the rigorous demands of their sports,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury. “The fact that so many of our student-athletes have earned academic recognitions from Conference USA is a testament to their determination and the support of our dedicated faculty members, coaches and academic advisors.”

C-USA announced its academic honor roll (3.0 GPA or better) Tuesday, and 221 Knights were on the list. That total ranked second among all C-USA schools and first among the league’s public institutions.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝’s student-athletes have collectively achieved a GPA of at least 3.0 for each of the last eight semesters.

In October, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ posted a program-best 83 percent Graduation Success Rate, which tied with the University of Florida for the top rating among Florida’s public universities.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝’s academic medal winners are listed below in alphabetical order by sport:

Football: Jacob Bundy (Business Economics) and  (Social Science Education master’s program)

Men’s Golf: Ěý(µţłÜ˛őľ±˛Ô±đ˛ő˛ő-±č±đ˛Ô»ĺľ±˛Ô˛µ)

Women’s Rowing: Jesse Baldwin (Communication Science and Disorders), (Finance), (Elementary Education with a Coaching minor), Kelsey McCreary (Cinema Studies), Beatriz Merino (Pre-Clinical Allied Health with a Spanish minor) and  (Sport and Exercise Science/Psychology)

Men’s Soccer: Augusto Braccialli (Civil Engineering), (Psychology), (Molecular and Microbiology) and Ěý(±Ę˛ő˛âł¦łó´Ç±ô´Ç˛µ˛â)

Women’s Soccer: (Biomedical Sciences), (Public Administration/Nonprofit Management), (Psychology), (Biology) and  (Communication Sciences and Disorders)

Softball: (Early Childhood Education), (Hospitality Management), (Elementary Education), (µţľ±´Ç±ô´Ç˛µ˛â)Ěý˛ą˛Ô»ĺ  (Mathematics Education)

Men’s Tennis: (Finance-pending) and  (Interdisciplinary Studies with a Math minor)

Women’s Tennis:  (Communication Sciences and Disorders)

Track and Field: (Undeclared), (Athletic Training), (Elementary Education) and Ěý(±Ęłóľ±±ô´Ç˛ő´Ç±čłó˛â)

Volleyball: (Marketing) and  (Molecular Biology and Microbology)