I sometimes wonder what would've happened if I'd entered the competition instead - I'd probably have come nowhere and given up on the whole fiction game.
Making a million dollars is the simplest thing in the world. Just find a product that sells for $2,000 and that you can buy at a cost of $1,000, and sell a thousand of them.
Individual ambition is undoubtedly a strong motive in student work, but there is such a thing among students everywhere as ambition for others, call it class spirit, esprit de corps, good fellowship, or good will to men.