I now know how cheaters feel

Stacey excitedly told me "I now know how cheaters feel." I gazed at her surprisingly, "Cheaters? Did you cheat on your boyfriend?" She yelled, "no o, that's not what I mean. Why should your mind go to boyfriend? I mean exam cheaters." "Oh", I said, "how do YOU mean exactly?" Then she started narrating in her story-telling tone. 

"Back in the secondary school and university days, I had some friends who couldn't do without voltron  (cooperation) in the exam hall. I saw them as students who lacked focus. You know, I saw them as unserious students who didn't take their academics as a priority. I didn't understand why a student would depend on another student to pass their exams. The courses/subjects were written and taught in English, so where was the problem coming from? Not like I never asked in the hall, but that was in my 1st and 2nd year and it wasn't a constant thing. However, it was a norm for some. They would always plan their sitting arrangement before the commencement of the exam while some would carry in chips if they could. In the hall, they would keep making suspicious body movements, whispering and turning their heads 180 degrees. What baffled me most was when they passed, they would rejoice even more loudly than those who genuinely wrote the exam. I used to wonder why they never felt ashamed that it wasn't by their own effort.  

Not until recently when I did a serials of tests for courses I barely read. Not like I didn't want to study them but I didn't have the time and truth be told, reading them was not feasible. Who was the freak (well not me) to read over a 100 pages for 2 courses and about 40-60 pages for the 6 other courses on one Saturday? Although the courses were uploaded online 2 months before that Saturday, I sincerely did not have the time to read them. Also I thought I would not need to study them since they were about-the-job topics but I was very wrong. They were ridiculously hard and required one to have a deep understanding of the topics. Since failing was not an option for me, I asked my friends for help. The funny thing was they needed help too. So we cooperated.

They were online courses in which you get rated immediately after submission. The total scores for each course and the average of all would be sent. After I did mine, I checked my average score and I scored above 70percent, I couldn't contain my joy. I screamed as I sat in front of the system staring at my score. At that moment, I realised it was not about knowing the courses but all about passing. The courses had nothing to do with my personal goals (and I had no interest in them) so understanding them was not my objective. They were just about-the-job tests I had to. If I had my way, I would have completely ignored them but I could not unless I got another job (which I pray one day I will). I was filled with  ecstasy. I thanked God for my success and told friends and family about it.
 

Basking in my euphoria, it occurred to me that I cheated.  I cheated and I didn't feel guilty about it, not a bit. Do I see myself as a cheat? Nope! I see myself as a smart chic who did what she could to succeed and succeeded." As for my back-in-the-day friends, it was not like they didn't want to learn. They didn't just know it and couldn't understand it. I am pretty sure they were not interested in comprehension. 

What more could I have said? She was still smiling and obviously happy. She managed to convince me, though I don't support school exam cheaters because their sole responsibility is to study, comprehend and pass their exams without cheating. For a busy worker whose job is not in line with her dreams, I understand her. I only congratulated her and we chatted away like inseparable twins.