Cheating tempting, but self-defeating

CHEATING (INCLUDING PLAGIARIZING) can be tempting this time of the semester even to those of us who would normally reject it like we’d reject the idea of putting an electronic device in our tub while bathing.

But as we sit and stare at the blank monitor page, the idea of cheating might come to mind.

Some of us might think, wouldn’t it be nice to just get a little help here, to relieve the anxiety we feel?

The relief eventually does come, for those of us who don’t succumb to the temptation.

It is through the hard work of tapping those keys on our keyboards, in the modern version of “putting pen to paper” and producing a finished product.

Even a poorly written paper is at least something to hand in. It may not bring us much pride, or a good grade but at least we know it’s our own.

Of course, there are consequences for getting a poor grade. Yet worrying about getting caught, I would think, would produce an ongoing anxiety that could continue throughout our academic lives and careers.

After all, the discovery is not just about the moment. Those who get degrees through cheating can end up like a few Oxford University graduates who had their degrees stripped from them in the not too distant past.

But students today are under tremendous pressure, I think. Most students I know have to work while going to school.

Even part time work can take away study hours. The same can be said for single parents and obviously double if they have to work and raise a child while going to school.

My hat’s off to them.

Many students are also very involved in both on and off campus activities. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing a few of these amazing students.

Some of them are also single parents and/or have to work. Then there are students like me, who find their learning and memory retention that came so easily in youth to be lessening.

So my hat’s off to all of us.

And not to belabor the point, but this group may also be included in the working parents (or grandparents raising grandchildren) mentioned above.

So does cheating sound good? For at least some of us, at times, yes. But hopefully, if we think about it at all, it is but a fleeting thought.

It is sort of like sleep. We cannot “cheat” and get sleep without actually sleeping. We can cheat on tests or assignments and get it done, which brings a sense of momentary relief.

Yet, like too little sleep, it surely can’t be very refreshing; I wouldn’t think the relief lasts for very long.

Even if we were never caught, it couldn’t be with pride that we would look at that diploma, which the university awards to us with the good faith that we earned it through our own achievement.

What a letdown that would be. I believe most of us on campus want to be able to point to our future degrees with pride, knowing we can say, “I earned it.” Hopefully that’s enough.

I guess I’d better get typing.

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