At Velium Academy, there are a variety of elective courses, including tea ceremony, chess, ink painting, western painting, hiking, swimming, and strolling, among others. The purpose of all these courses is to allow the students to relax, and, as a result, there are no exams.

If I had to pick the most popular class, it would undoubtedly be cooking. The reason is that, unlike other electives, it’s one of the few where students can compete against each other.

Seeing that people look for competition even in courses designed to help them relax makes me think that human nature never really …