Ever caught your students cheating during a test? Most likely, yes! Meet John, a candidate in an English certification exam who had no intention of commiting to the demands of learning the language. Get ready for a rollercoaster ride of tragic – albeit hilarious – proportions, as his cheating attempts lead to unforseen circumstances!
by Katherine Reilly, Author | Teacher Trainer
As the proctors paced up and down, John estimated the margin of opportunity at his disposal. Five seconds would get him about three answers every time.
“Why does she keep moving her shoulder? I can’t see!” John thought to himself, clenching his teeth in frustration.
Sure enough, every minute or so, he would catch quick glimpses of the girl’s test in front of him. He had carefully scanned the students entering the exam room beforehand.
“Light blue cardigan, long skirt, glasses, and a pony tail to match. She definitely knows her stuff,” he deduced as he sprang to the seat behind her.
To John’s right sat his best friend, Sam, who excelled at listening comprehension.
“Are you sure about the answers?” John whispered.
Sam frowned, clearly offended by the obtuse query.
“Shh! No whispering or you’ll be removed!” snapped a proctor who noticed John’s reckless and illicit behavior.
John lowered his eyes until the proctor assumed he was concentrating on the test before him. As the proctor walked away, he immediately glared at the girl in front of him, nearly falling out of his seat in is attempt to see her answers.
“Why in the world did she circle ‘A’ in question 18? I’m sure it’s ‘C’!” John pondered.
Without a second thought, he erased his answer and circled ‘A’. Meanwhile, Sam had chosen ‘B’.
“It’s not ‘B’! Change it!” John whispered, leaning towards his friend’s paper.
“I knew it! It has to be ‘C’, then. I was between those two answers,” Sam whispered indiscreetly.
“It’s ‘A’! That’s what the girl in front of me picked!” John insisted.
“Last warning son! I’ll have you removed the next time you interrupt the assessment!” the proctor barked, drawing the examiner’s attention.
John was now in a pickle. All eyes were on him, making it nearly impossible to make even the slightest nudge. He begrudgingly hastened to finish the rest of the test, his time slipping away.
A few moments later, the students exited the exam venue and gathered outside. Teachers would spur to their students’ sides, offering – and occasionally even seeking – confirmation of their efficiency on the assessment.
John was an above-average student with great potential in language learning. To his detriment, his insecurities and mischievous tendencies often got the best of him. He was adamant about cheating in any educational environment, completely disregarding his own potential to grow and thrive. Alas, such a mindset would prove his downfall in similar situations. If only he would learn from these experiences…
“John, I think I made a mistake,” Sam gasped.
“In the listening section? What’s one mistake among fifty questions? It’s no big deal,” John shrugged.
“It’s not that simple! I wasn’t sure about my answers, so I copied the student sitting next to me. I think I skipped one, and now my whole listening section is a disaster,” Sam groaned in anguish.
As John pondered their predicament, it took him a while to actually figure out what had happened. In the classic case of cheating gone horribly wrong, Sam had misaligned his copied answers, triggering a demoralizing domino effect. Each answer landed in the next slot, ultimately ensuring failure with impressive consistency.
“You what!? Why did you copy him? You’re a natural at listening! Why doubt yourself?” John cried.
“Isn’t that what you would have done?” Sam shot back, as he noticed John’s attention drifting elsewhere.
“Hey! It’s the girl in the cardigan! I have to ask her about question 18!” John exclaimed, rushing to her side.
“Sorry to bother you! I know you’re speaking with your teacher, but I was wondering about the correct answer in question 18; the one with the conditional and the boy who lost his dog,” he asked, with Sam by his side.
“Oh, I wasn’t sure about that one. I just circled ‘A’,” she admitted.
John’s jaw dropped as the teacher confirmed the actual answer was ‘C.’ His horror deepened when he saw Sam’s expression.
“Seriously? You made me circle ‘A’!” Sam exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
“Actually, you were going to circle ‘B’ so no harm done!” John retorted defensively.
“Do you realize we probably failed?” yelled Sam in utter disappointment.
Calling this whole exam session a fiasco would be an understatement. A few months later, John and Sam weren’t surprised to learn they had failed. They did eventually retake the test, this time making a genuine effort to pass. In hindsight, it would have been cheaper and far less stressful to just study instead of risking it all on laziness and presumptions.
The lesson here to be learned is that cheating may lead to unforeseen consequences, financial or otherwise. John had to learn the hard way that his academic prowess also took a blow, initially rendering him unable to keep up with the pace of his new classmates. In the end, he fortunately did pass.
Later on in life, he became a teacher and used this experience to deter others who flirt with the concept of cheating. He often ended his cautionary tale with a wink and the words, “Trust me, cheating is the only way to fail with 100% accuracy!”
Katherine Reilly 