Friday, January 25 was frigid in Chicago. Temperatures dipped below zero and a blustery, icy snow blanketed the streets. The evening traffic was heavy and the road conditions were treacherous, making it challenging to get around the city. It was a perfect night to stay in and watch a movie or sit by the fire.

But hundreds of members of the Parker community braved the pre-polar vortex weather conditions for a single reason. They piled into DePaul’s Sullivan Athletic Center to watch their beloved Colonels Boys’ Varsity Basketball team take on the Latin Romans. It was the second and final time these teams would meet this season. The stadium was a sea of blue (or orange, depending on which side of the arena you were sitting in), with foam fingers and spirited slogans written on poster boards.

For our school, the Parker-Latin games are the most popular of each season and each year. No matter how each of the teams performs before or after, or the consequence of the games’ outcomes, simply because Parker and Latin are rivals, the bleachers of their matchups are always packed with eager fans. This rivalry extends beyond the playing fields to encompass all areas of school life. Parker and Latin students each like to think that their respective school is the “better” one academically, athletically, in terms of community.

But what does it actually mean to be a rival? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a “rival” as “one of two or more striving to reach or obtain something that only one can have.” So then, what is the one thing that our school is trying to obtain? The title of “Best School in Chicago?” I don’t think that even exists. So where is the rivalry coming from?

Galvin Kilduff, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, explains that a rivalry is more than just a competition. A true rivalry typically happens when players are evenly matched, have things in common, and are familiar with each other because they regularly meet in competition. So it seems to me that it is what we share––the ways we are the same––that actually drives the rivalry. And that makes a lot of sense to me, given the ways in which we are similar to the Romans, our neighbors to the south. Whether or not we want to admit it, both schools are excellent and have outstanding teachers and strong communities.

In fact, I think that our rivalries make us stronger and bring out the best in us. We work harder, perform better, and cheer louder when we face an opponent we see as our “rival.” Our rival provides that healthy dose of peer pressure that encourages us to elevate our efforts.