Honor

"Joe, here is you're homework. And here is Zane's. You see how the answers are identical?" asked Joe's math professor.
"Umm I don't know," replied a nervous Joe.
"And look at this answer, the exponent is identical but it doesn't even make sense. It is as if one person copied off another but didn't even bother to check if the process made sense. I mean it makes sense on Zane's but it does not on yours. Do you see that?" asked Joe's math Professor.
"I mean I kind of see that. What are you trying to say?" asked Joe in return.
"Joe I have to turn this in to the Honor Council. This is an honor code violation."
"For a homework assignment?"
"It was a take-home quiz. You know the rules, no collaboration. I have no choice."
"You do have a choice, but I get it. Send it to the Honor Council. Let's see what happens."

Joe might have seemed confident but he knew he was fucked. He did it. He copied Zane's paper. He had been doing it all semester and had been getting away with it. On this particular assignment, he didn't have the time to copy it properly. He was in a rush because he had a party to get to and he just copied every word on Zane's paper verbatim. Usually, he took his time and mixed up the answers a bit so he would never get caught. This time he fucked up. He was in a rush and he got caught. An Honor Code violation was an automatic F in the class. If convicted not only was his GPA shot but so were his chances of getting into the business program at his college. He was devastated. He just didn't get it, everyone cheated on those take-home quizzes. Who gives take-home quizzes anyway?

This was not the first time he had cheated, not by a long shot. Before college, he went to one of the best high schools in the country. Guess where he learned to cheat? He had never copied anything before going to high school. There was a saying in high school, you can have two of the following three: good grades, a social life, and sleep. You can't have all three. The workload was tremendous and these were teenagers after all. What did you think was going to happen? Cheating was rampant. Parents and teachers didn't like to talk about it, but everyone had to have known. It was accepted as part of the culture to copy a homework assignment. Or have cheat sheets going into a test. These were smart kids, after all, they knew how to get away with cheating. It was an art form. A way of life. They would write things on the back of their sleeves, slip an index card in a calculator, or write things on the foot of their jeans. Joe thought it was all in good fun. Just the way things were done. Yes, it was "wrong," but it wasn't wrong. Everyone did it. He never gave it another thought. Yeah, he knew his parents would be upset if they ever found out but they were happy with the above-average grades, right? And he didn't copy all of the time. Most of the time he actually did the work. It was just here and there. And he had to have a life, right? It seemed like it was the right thing to do. Everyone was doing it, right? Then Joe got to college. His classrooms might have changed but his habits did not. His luck finally caught up with him.

At first, Joe got on the offensive. He knew he had time before his case went before the Honor Council. Maybe there was a way to get the case thrown out or lower the punishment. The first person he approached was Zane.

"Dude, I'm so fucked. What am I going to do?" asked Joe.
"Dude, you know I am just as fucked as you, right?" replied Zane.
"What?"
"Yeah, it doesn't matter if you're the copier or the person who got copied from, both people fail the class." Joe's heart sunk in his chest.
"But that's bullshit! You didn't do anything wrong, you were being a good friend. It should all be on me."
"It just doesn't work that way, man. We're going to go down for this together."
"There is no fucking way I am going to let you get an F, I'll do whatever it takes."

The news that Zane was also going to receive an F broke Joe's heart. But now at least he had someone else to fight for, which gave him added motivation to try to find a way out. He had a good friend, Danny, who was on the Honor Council and Joe approached him to discuss the predicament.

"Dude, is there any way to get the case thrown out or lower the sentence maybe? Like just an F on the assignment?" he asked Danny.
"Well once the case has been brought in front of the Honor Council, there has to be a hearing. And your professor has already sent the case in. But the hearing won't happen till next semester," replied Danny.
"So what happens to my grade this semester?"
"They leave it blank until the hearing has been resolved."
"What would you do if you were in my shoes?"
"Honestly I don't know man. The evidence is pretty bad. You can go up there and tell them you didn't do it but I don't think that will do much."
"And what about lowering the sentence to just an F on the assignment?"
"I don't think that is a real possibility. These colleges are really serious about the Honor Code. They have to punish hard. The first violation and you get an F. The second and you get thrown out of school. It's serious shit."
"And what about Zane?"
"What about him?"
"Is there any way for me to take the fall without him getting an F too?"
"I don't know man. I don't think so. You can go appeal on his behalf but I don't know if that will help. It is a pretty straightforward process."
"God, I guess we're both just fucked."
"It looks bad now but even if you get an F you're going to be ok. Both of you are but especially you. You're a smart kid and everyone knows it. Most people would kill to have your brain. It's just one class. You can bounce back. You will bounce back."

Danny was a good friend indeed. He brought positivity to a very negative situation, everyone needs people like that in their lives. The semester ended and Joe returned home for winter break. When his father asked why his math grade had not come in Joe lied and said that it was because they were still grading his finals. His dad didn't know any better so he let it go. Joe knew it would all blow up in his face sooner or later but he preferred later. He was good at pretending nothing was wrong even when Rome was burning. He had been doing it for a while now. Even in high school, he would hide his report cards from his dad if the grades were not great. He never wanted to face the music. But the truth eventually rose to the surface and his father would get really, really mad. Joe was ok with this. He was fine delaying the inevitable, at least he got to enjoy the present.

He returned to school for the following semester and the emails started coming in for the Honor Council hearing. He and Zane would get together and plan out what they were going to say. After giving it much thought Joe decided to plead guilty. He had done the crime, he had to do the time. Cheating was bad enough, Joe was not going to go on the stand and lie on top of it. Enough was enough. He was at peace with his decision and decided that he would use the hearing to advocate for Zane. Zane was appreciative but their friendship was never the same. The day of the hearing came. Joe was put on the stand.

"How do you plead?" asked the head of the Honor Council.
"I plead guilty. I did it. But I want to take this opportunity to say that I think it is wrong to also indict Zane. He did nothing wrong. I took advantage of our friendship and put him in an impossible situation. What friend would say no to a friend in need? And now he has to pay the price for being a good friend? That is not right and I know that if you guys look in you're hearts then you will agree. If any of you were in his situation you would do the exact same thing. I am not going to go into how ludicrous take-home quizzes are. Because they are. The fact that something that is worth less than 1% of your grade can lead you to fail the class is preposterous in and of itself but that is not the issue here. Zane did nothing wrong. I copied and I alone should be punished. No one should be punished for being a good friend."

Joe failed the class. Whether or not Zane failed the class was never made clear to Joe. No one told him and Zane did not really talk much after the hearing. The friendship was ruined. The semester was a tumultuous one for Joe but he did his best to keep his spirits up. After all, he had to face the music with his father, a day he wanted never to come. But that day did come.

"What is this?" asked his father as he looked at Joe's grades.
"What is what?" replied Joe awaiting the inevitable.
"What is this F in your math class? It says honor code violation," said his father getting angrier.
"Ummm."
"Joe, what did you do?"
"I copied a take-home quiz and they failed me in the class," said Joe feeling defeated.
"What!"
"Yeah, I'm really sorry dad."
"You're sorry? You're sorry! This is why we send you to college? To cheat? To fail? We have to take out loans to send you to that school. Why are we doing that? So you can go there and cheat? What kind of man are you? How are you ever going to do anything now? Look at you're GPA! 2.85! How are you going to get into business school? How are you going to get a job? All our money, flushed right down the toilet! If you wanted to fail you could have failed at a community college. You didn't need to go to an expensive private school. Do you know what you have done? Can you possibly imagine?"
"I know, I know. I will pick my grades up next year I promise."
"You promise? I don't believe a word you say anymore! You are a liar and a cheater. You knew for months what was happening and you lied to us telling us that everything was fine. You are a liar! And now you're future is ruined!"
"I will get into B school, I promise I will."
"I just don't care anymore! You know what you have done? You have broken my heart son. You have done a lot of stupid shit in the past but this is by far the worst. Look at my face. Look at it! You will never see this face smile again."
"I'm so sorry dad," said Joe with tears in his eyes.

His dad was angry that whole day. Out of nowhere he would go into fits of rage and yell throughout the house. This continued the next day. And the one after that. This was the angriest Joe had ever seen his father. Joe stayed in his room for most of that week, he couldn't face his father. He couldn't even face himself. But with time, things began to settle down. That's the thing about anger. In the moment it can be all-consuming. It can make you say and do all kinds of things but when it settles down, you settle down. Joe's father was angry. But a father can't hate his son, it's just not possible. He was disappointed and yes his son had made a grave mistake but the world kept on spinning. Life went on. What is done is done and now it was a father's job to pick up his son and give him the strength and motivation to keep going. One mistake does not define a life. You have to learn from you're mistakes and move forward. It was a father's job to teach that to his son and that is exactly what Joe's father did.

A few weeks later the family was all set to go on a cruise for their annual summer vacation. They all desperately needed a vacation. Joe had been in a funk ever since his grades had come out. He barely spoke. He mostly kept to himself in his room. While the family was in line for the cruise Joe's father came over and gave him a pat on the back.

"It's going to be ok son," said his father with a smile.
"I'm just such a disappointment dad," said Joe.
"You made a mistake. It happens. It doesn't mean you're a bad person or that you can't come back from it. I have made mistakes in my life too. You have to learn from them and keep going."
"I will dad. I'm never going to cheat again. From now on whatever I do in life will be based on my own work. Whether that is good enough or not I don't care. It will be on my own merit."
"That is good to hear son. But let me also tell you this. If you don't get into B school I can't justify sending you to such an expensive school. It just doesn't make any sense. You're going to have to transfer to a community school."
"Okay dad, I get that. But I'm going to get in. There's nothing on Earth that can stop me."

Now Joe was a lazy kid. There was no denying that. That is why he cheated in high school and then in college. He wasn't stupid, just lazy. He didn't want to do the work. He wanted to be cool and get good grades without putting in the work. He wanted his cake and he wanted to eat it too. That is not possible. Everyone learns this at one point or another. It took an Honor Code violation for Joe to learn this lesson. A small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.

The next semester Joe came out like a bat out of hell. He didn't want to leave all his newfound friends. He was focused, he was driven, and he worked like he had never worked before. He always did his best work under pressure and that semester he faced a lot of pressure. He overloaded and took on 2 extra classes. It wouldn't have been enough to ace a regular workload, he needed more As to bring his GPA up. And ace them he did. The hard way. He got an A in all 6 courses that semester. And then 4 As and 1 A- the semester after that. He got into the business school, at which point he relaxed and became a mediocre student again. He didn't learn consistency till many years later. Such is life.

He went on to become a pretty successful businessman and achieved a lot in his professional life.

And he never cheated again.