An Open Letter to Cheaters

My first question is why?

An easy answer would be to succeed.

But how are you really succeeding? Yes, you’re getting that good grade, and yes, you’re acing that test, but is that really you? 

No, of course not. You aren’t getting anywhere in actuality. 

Despite its initial goal, high school has trouble preparing you with the workload that college dumps onto you. So you might be set for high school, but you won’t be set for college. College is much more difficult; with more assignments, more responsibilities, who will help you then?

It’s not only disrespectful to your school when you cheat but it’s also disrespectful to your teachers that spend their own time trying to teach you. It’s disrespectful for those around you working hard for their own answers. It’s disrespectful to you, robbing yourself of experience.

My second question is how?

How could you take so much time and effort into your cheating strategy instead of already learning? Why take time to prepare to cheat for a test when you can learn how it connects to your world? It seems like the smart way out, and yes, it will aid you but at what cost? The cost is missing out on information and knowledge that could be of use to you and others in the future.

How does it feel wasting your own and everyone else’s time? Does it feel hopeless? You sit in a classroom every day waiting for the next test, quiz, or assignment just to put forth no effort. How does it feel being lost—being pointed in every direction not thinking directly for solutions to problems, following the crowd? Wouldn’t you want to find out your own information? Wouldn’t you want to be proud of the work you put in? 

My third and final question is when? When will the guilt wash over you? When you get caught? When you get kicked out of school? When will you realize your mistakes? When will you actually succeed? When will you take time for yourself? When will you be found? When will you be proud? 

It’s not uncommon that people are furious at cheaters because they have an advantage to those who play by the rules. You have an identity of having a gain that others don’t, but what is it really? You have nothing compared to those who work hard. It’s not uncommon either that those who work hard have thought about it once or twice. 

Being able to have the work done without any of the pain is an easy solution some would see. Then, once you actually commit to it, it feels empty—a loss of passion. Your appetency to work is lost; you don’t feel proud. Of course you feel guilty, but the emotion is gone. You’re better off working towards a goal than to have everything done for you. 

If anything I pity those who cheat. They work towards nothing, they have nothing, and they have no passion for the journey; they only think about the destination. 

Have a change of heart, have a definitive goal, and have a passion and proudness for the things you do.