Trophies or Medals? A Discussion of Recognition

Over the years that I’ve participated in various school activities, I’ve received a variety of trinkets, from trophies to medals to certificates.  In fact, it seems it’s near impossible to progress through the years at Oak Hill without being recognized or commended for participating in something.   However, what I’d like to highlight is the variety of the awards handed out, and how little standards there seem to be for distributing modern-day laurels.

Think for a second about how much this differs from normal academic recognition; normally doing well in a class earns you an A, which is then in-turn rewarded by a recognition like “honor role,” a straightforward list of those who excel in their classes.  However, doing well in other activities, like music for example, can lead to a wide variety of medals, trophies, and invitations.  While I’m not saying one system is inherently better than the other, I think both sides could benefit from using the techniques of the other.  Imagine, for example, receiving a congratulatory trophy after acing a math exam.  Actually, now that I think more about it, there’s a chance that could end up being more awkward than rewarding.  Perhaps I’ve stumbled upon the reason why the current system exists: a gift of a trophy from some important officiator you’ve never met is much more satisfying than receiving a plaque recognizing your excellence from someone you already know as well as a teacher you’ve had all year.  It seems like this plays into a basic human desire to receive acceptance and recognition  from the seemingly human but truly faceless institution we call “society.”  Maybe this is instead that being told you’re adequate is expected to be the case most of the time when around those you know well, and when we’re told we’re exceptional by someone with little incentive to make you feel good about the matter it feels honest and rewarding.

Perhaps I’m looking too far into a random practice that continues only out of tradition.

Anyway, to address the question posed in the title, I prefer medals.  Feel free to try and puzzle why, I haven’t figured it out myself entirely yet.