By Fatimah Khurrum

Copyright dawn

I flicked my ponytail, grinning. I was sitting in the school courtyard with a group of classmates, trying hard to seem cool and fit in. They were casually talking about random stuff, sharing the latest memes and the spoilers of an upcoming movie.

I joined in, laughing heartily. But then, Mira walked past. She was the quiet one, who only opened up in front of her close friends. She was good at studies and quietly helped others without drawing much attention to herself.

“Hey, Mira! Want to come sit here with us?” Kylie called.

I gave her an annoyed glance. Mira had been my rival ever since elementary school. She was the smartest student in the class, but she never showed off about it. No matter how significant her achievement was, she always stayed humble and grateful. She smiled at the invitation and sat down.

Since she was the smartest girl in the class, besides being the kindest, everyone was keen to talk to her, even though she didn’t know most of the modern terms used on social media. She sat down and chatted casually, and everybody joined in.

I excused myself and went to sit somewhere else. I hated being second to Mira, and couldn’t help wondering how a girl who wasn’t even cool and stylish could be so liked by everyone. I glanced over at the group; she was fitting in so effortlessly. I couldn’t help it if I was jealous, if I wanted to know how she did all this, how she could get people to appreciate her so much.

Back in class, I saw total chaos. Some girls were running around, some singing trending songs and some drawing with chalk on the board. But Mira just sat there, chatting softly with Kylie and Chloe.

My mother and hers had been very good friends, and my mother even wanted me to be like her. But I didn’t know how! She was just so — there wasn’t any other word for it — perfect.

When the teacher entered, the class quickly moved back to their seats. Chloe slid into the seat next to me.

“That Mira’s something, isn’t she? She makes everyone feel so welcome, always ready to help,” she whispered to me.

I glared at her, unsure what to say. Five minutes with Mira and boom, Chloe joined the fan club.

A few days later, Chloe’s seat next to mine was swapped with Mira. I couldn’t believe my eyes when Mira entered the class and sat next to me. She then gave a soft, welcoming smile. The genuineness of her smile made me feel special. For a moment, I forgot my rivalry. But then my anger returned. I turned my eyes back on my geography book, hands busy writing the half-page answer that was expected.

As the day progressed, I noticed how Mira concentrated on her own work — not talking, just focused on the lessons. She made her notes so neatly that one would actually want to read them. During free periods, she’d laugh and talk as idiotically as anyone, but if it was study time, she’d put everything else aside.

Later in the day, my friend Lexi was, as always, doing an insanely stupid thing, tapping and hitting things as though they were drums and playing the tune of a song. I laughed aloud.

“Do you want to get arrested? You’ll get released soon, though, even the cops wouldn’t fancy keeping you locked up,” I teased her.

Mira chuckled, “Lexi, you’ll break the table or hurt yourself!”

There was a noticeable difference in my comment and her remark. Mine was rude and offensive, while she had kept hers playful and tactful.

I couldn’t help but think how much she differed from me, how much better she was in so many ways. At the end of the day, I found Mira staring at Everly.

“She is just so good at English grammar,” I heard Mira mumble.

Wait, was she jealous? She was already so perfect, how could she be jealous at all?

“I’ll try to be just like her in the subject,” she said determinedly. “I’ll try to learn what she does to succeed so I’ll be able to improve too.” She was still looking at our teacher, who was complimenting Everly’s essay.

Whoa, so that was how she succeeded! That was a really powerful sentence, “I’ll try to be like her” — something I had never thought of. Something that had never crossed my mind.

I looked at her and asked, “Is that how you work everything out? Like, not feel envious at all but focusing on yourself instead?”

She smiled, “Yeah, it’s better than just staying tangled. A person will stay stuck in envy or jealousy forever, and I don’t want to. When I see something that makes me envious of people, I try to make that quality a part of me.”

I had never thought of things like this before. This was so true, so simple and basic, yet it took me so long to realise it. I could see both of us in the same situation, but with different perspectives: me watching others as rivals, and she looking at people as guides.

I started implementing her advice. I changed my attitude, my habits and my priorities. I could feel the change within a week. I no longer thought of her as a rival. I now considered jealousy and envy not as a hurdle that kept me stuck, but as a way to improve.

It’s not hard at all. All it took was determination and inspiration. I realised that if I just went on hating someone for being better, how would I ever pluck up the sense to make myself better? What makes a person better than others is their perspective and will to take inspiration from others.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 20th, 2025