five points
February 24, 2003 1:55 p.m.
We sit in the last row of the classroom, trying to pay attention to numbers and symbols with arcane meanings. Terms fly from our instructor's lips with amazing ease as we try to comprehend the meanings behind them. I hurriedly finish the homework I had left undone until now, rushing to write my own answers in before we correct them. Afer flying through the two exercises, I relax. Then, it happens, the professor say, "Ok, exercise 36!" My neighbor and I look at each other in fear. "We had to to do that one?!?!?" Both of us look at the blank page where our answers should be. We hastily write down the correct ones as the class goes over it, knowing we can go back later and look over it, and as the professor passes the grade sheet around, I try to rationalize. "We would have gotten them all right if we had done it... They're easy... We work hard in this course... We deserve to cut ourselves a break..." I almost have myself convinced, then the woman next to me, who just minutes earlier takled with me about her desire to start her own church because she feels a calling and who amazes me in her dedication to her studies, leans over and says, "Whatever you choose to do, I won't judge you. But I am going to give myself a zero."I stop, suddenly thinking clearly again. Yes, I need a good grade in this course. Yes, it would be simple to report a perfect score. Yes, I could do it and probably not think any worse of myself. I sink deep into thought until the sheet of paper reaches me. I look at the scores of my classmates, 5,5,5,4,5,.... the column goes on and on. I write in my first two scores, 5 then 4. I stare for a long moment at the last empty space before writing in a careful zero. I pass the paper on and a few seconds later, my neighbor looks at me and smiles suprisedly. "You gave yourself a zero..." she said. "I blush in embarrassment, not knowing what to say. "I'm an SGA Senator," I say, "I can't preach to others about the Honor Code and not follow it myself." She smiles knowingly and goes back to her work.
I sit through the rest of the class, hearing very little of the lecture, thinking only about what happened. Five points is a small price to pay for integrity, isn't it?
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