Week 11 Story: Cheating the System
It was late April of 2017 and Holly's junior year of college was almost finished. She had been killing herself with school and classes for the last three years and she was finally going to take her MCAT exam to see if she would get into medical school. She had been studying for months and was totally worn out, but she was pushing through the exhaustion.
She was spread out all over the library's tables when her biggest competitor, Haley, walked towards her. Holly tried to ignore her and pretend like she did not see Haley, but it was too late, Haley was already sitting down in one of the extra chairs.
Holly looked tired, exhausted, a mess if you must, but Haley looked happy and peppy. This just irked Holly even more.
Haley asked Holly, "Are you ready for next weekend? I cannot wait to take this, it's going to be so easy." Holly looked up from her books and forced a weak smile. She replied, "Easy? How long have you been studying?" and Haley replied, "Only about a month, but I know this stuff like it's the back of my hand."
Holly just laughed, wished Haley good luck with studying, and Haley left.
Holly got back to her room, dropped all her stuff on the floor, and plopped on her bed. She could not stop thinking about Haley's remarks. She kept thinking to herself, "Well of course you think you know all of this stuff--you have nearly perfect grades, but only if everyone knew the truth." Holly began to tear up and thought of all the times that she has caught Haley cheating on tests and assignments. Haley had a perfect year because she never actually did anything by herself.
The week was rolling by quick and it was almost the big day.
Saturday was finally here and Holly got to the test early so that she could get a feel for the environment; she wanted nothing more than to do well on this test. After all, it was the test that could determine the rest of her life.
The proctors sat everyone in their respective seats. It was very unfortunate that Haley was put right next to Holly, but Holly was not going to let that shake her.
It was about an hour or so into the test and Holly noticed something out of the corner of her eye... She thought to herself, "Surely she isn't trying to cheat off of me. This can't be real." Sure enough, that is exactly what Haley was doing.
The proctor walked up to Haley after watching her try to steal some peaks off of Holly's work. The proctor simply asked her to leave and ever since then Haley was blacklisted from the MCAT exam and all medical schools.
She should've known that taking the easy way was never the answer. If you want something, you have to work for it.
Bibliography: The Deer and the Rabbit by James Mooney
Author's Note:
I used the story, "The Deer and the Rabbit" because it had a good life lesson. The deer and the rabbit both had great qualities and the other forest animals wanted to see them race to see which one was most superior. As the deer and the rabbit lined up to start, the rabbit made up some excuse that he needed to look at the course and see what to expect. However, he was actually gnawing away branches and bushes to create a path that he could use to cheat and win the race. The other animals caught the rabbit and shunned him for his wrong doing. I used that life lesson in my story because Holly was the hard worker and did everything fair and by the book, but Haley cheated her way through life and it ended up exposing her and ruining her life. I also used the MCAT exam because I am actually preparing for it and I know that it takes months to study for and 1 month will not suffice.
She was spread out all over the library's tables when her biggest competitor, Haley, walked towards her. Holly tried to ignore her and pretend like she did not see Haley, but it was too late, Haley was already sitting down in one of the extra chairs.
Holly looked tired, exhausted, a mess if you must, but Haley looked happy and peppy. This just irked Holly even more.
Haley asked Holly, "Are you ready for next weekend? I cannot wait to take this, it's going to be so easy." Holly looked up from her books and forced a weak smile. She replied, "Easy? How long have you been studying?" and Haley replied, "Only about a month, but I know this stuff like it's the back of my hand."
Holly just laughed, wished Haley good luck with studying, and Haley left.
Holly got back to her room, dropped all her stuff on the floor, and plopped on her bed. She could not stop thinking about Haley's remarks. She kept thinking to herself, "Well of course you think you know all of this stuff--you have nearly perfect grades, but only if everyone knew the truth." Holly began to tear up and thought of all the times that she has caught Haley cheating on tests and assignments. Haley had a perfect year because she never actually did anything by herself.
The week was rolling by quick and it was almost the big day.
Saturday was finally here and Holly got to the test early so that she could get a feel for the environment; she wanted nothing more than to do well on this test. After all, it was the test that could determine the rest of her life.
The proctors sat everyone in their respective seats. It was very unfortunate that Haley was put right next to Holly, but Holly was not going to let that shake her.
It was about an hour or so into the test and Holly noticed something out of the corner of her eye... She thought to herself, "Surely she isn't trying to cheat off of me. This can't be real." Sure enough, that is exactly what Haley was doing.
The proctor walked up to Haley after watching her try to steal some peaks off of Holly's work. The proctor simply asked her to leave and ever since then Haley was blacklisted from the MCAT exam and all medical schools.
She should've known that taking the easy way was never the answer. If you want something, you have to work for it.
Cheating off Test
Author's Note:
I used the story, "The Deer and the Rabbit" because it had a good life lesson. The deer and the rabbit both had great qualities and the other forest animals wanted to see them race to see which one was most superior. As the deer and the rabbit lined up to start, the rabbit made up some excuse that he needed to look at the course and see what to expect. However, he was actually gnawing away branches and bushes to create a path that he could use to cheat and win the race. The other animals caught the rabbit and shunned him for his wrong doing. I used that life lesson in my story because Holly was the hard worker and did everything fair and by the book, but Haley cheated her way through life and it ended up exposing her and ruining her life. I also used the MCAT exam because I am actually preparing for it and I know that it takes months to study for and 1 month will not suffice.
Hi Caitlin! I loved your story of the cheater getting their just desserts. I don't understand how people can cheat? Especially when you reach the point that what you learn will be used in your future career, where you can't copy off the person next to you who is doing a different assignment. One question I had was, why did Haley get away for cheating for so long? Where her parents donors to the school? Did Holly ever report Haley for cheating? If not, what stopped her?
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