Cheaters Never…

But sometimes they do, until they don’t

I just turned in a test. I’m back at my desk opening up my computer to do some work before the lecture kicks off and what do I notice? The guy next to me pop open his phone, hold it out behind the gal in front of him so as to obscure the teacher’s vision of it, and start Googling for answers.

Guess what happened yesterday? I sat next to another guy who, despite our class being no more than 20 people sitting around a large conference desk, had the guts to whip his phone out underneath the table and use it the entire time he took the test.

Cheating is nothing new, of course, and it really should be no surprise to me that people do it. If I’m honest I am more surprised by last night’s perpetrator than tonight’s. Last night’s guy is a grad student who seems to do decent work based on the other classes I’ve had with him. The ‘resourceful’ fella I’m sitting next to at the moment is a tatted up football player. I didn’t stereotype beforehand so it doesn’t really count. I’m simply recognizing his lack of fighting the stereotype, after all.

The biggest question isn’t why someone would cheat, but why these guys would cheat on these particular tests. They are easy. Last night’s was all essay, so perhaps not the easiest out there, but it still only consisted of eight questions. The one I just completed was matching, true and false, multiple choice, and short answer. And last test was scaled +10 points even though two people made perfect grades. That’s how breezy this class is. And yet someone cheats.

I grew up hearing that cheaters never win and winners never cheat. That’s not entirely true. Anyone who has been around any length of time has recognized the false hope that gives to kids as they’ve seen the paradigmatic collision occur when bad things happen to good people and bad guys get away.

Ultimately your sins will find you out. When it comes to taking shortcuts, the only thing you’re shortcutting in the end is your own progress. So may the best man win.