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Many moons ago, I won my first competition. I think I was in second grade, and it was a spelling bee. Soon after that, I started playing the flute, and my competitive spirit found a place to blossom. I spent decades finding, preparing for, and--in many cases--winning competitions, auditions, scholarships, and jobs. I've always loved the thrill of stepping onstage to perform with an orchestra, knowing that I'd won the privilege to be there. However, the music world can be cruel in equal measure. For every audition I won, I'd lose six. For every 15 performance jobs I applied for, I'd get answers back to two. Every other flutist was a competitor, every opportunity was winning something that lot