We all want above-average grades, indicators of a good performance in the game of high school. However, with every competition comes the option of cheating, and despite our high standards, students at Saint Viator are not exempt from its temptation. The question then becomes what part of a “good” performance are we willing to walk out of high school with: the moral or the academic? And if we choose the latter, then how far are we willing to go, how much of ourselves are we willing to stake in hopes of a bright future? These questions ignore no one, now more than ever. The game of high school is becoming more like the Olympics: the students in high schools across the nation are becoming smarter, more resourceful and more competitive for our college acceptance letters.

   History tells us that we are capable of great deeds: Isaac Newton did not need to first ask God for the secrets of gravity, and neither do we for our tests and quizzes. If we worry that we cannot out-perform those who do cheat, then we are sorely mistaken. Our minds are capable of amazing things, and whether that be to expertly devise a cheating ring or study for hours on end is our choice alone. However, it is vital to see that when we cheat we jeopardize the very future we are trying to protect. School, put simply, is overflowing with challenges, and as we know from experience, we grow and mature through them. We go to school, challenged by new information and harder tests, to better ourselves, not to rig our grades.

   Cheating, however, does not consist simply of an intellectual dilemma. We seem to have forgotten our conscience and our pride, two of the many sensors meant to alert us of foul play. We, as a society, would rather flaunt and value the results of a course than the grueling journey we took to get there, as if our grades were more important than the all-nighters and early mornings we put forth to get them. It seems as if our consciences were put on hold for these times in our lives, when we diverge to keep up with the crowd. Pride our work and moral awareness have been pushed to the side to make room for the grand attraction of college. Do we truly put pride in our work beneath our future, as if it would be better to cheat and be proud of the success we’ve stolen than live an honest life?

   Many times, grades are something of a mile marker, giving an accurate reflection of how far we’ve come. They are one the purest testers of moral strength out there: can we accept seeing a lower grade on our transcripts if it means getting the grade equal to the amount of work we put in? That is the real test in school, accepting our best efforts and suppressing the want and apparent need to do better through cheating. We should focus on ignoring one of modern’s society’s many false cries and return to the basics: go to school to learn, not to find a way around it; get into a college based on how hard you worked, not how fast you scampered away from challenges; live a life that agrees with the morals of our faith and conscience, not one that is content with selfishness and dishonesty.