Non fiction

Fuck it, 40%

Finally, the professor sat down again on his chair, it was about time! As there were now four students between the professor and himself, he was completely out of his sight; John could finally execute what he had planned. He took out his brand new smart phone as discreetly as possible from his pocket and put it in his pencil case. He had to be quick. He went on the internet to look for the little information he needed to finish his exam. Now it was easy; Google really is our friend. He found all that he needed in no time. Quickly he glanced at the teacher; he was still at his desk. Suspecting nothing. Too easily, John put his phone back in his pocket without anyone around noticing anything. In ten minutes he would be done with that exam – free to think again about what's important in his student life this year: parties and girls. He didn't come to university to do that, no. He wanted to get his degree with a good mark in order to have a good job and then a brilliant career… but when he was told that his marks wouldn't count this year, that he just had to have at least 40 per cent to pass, he just thought: why would I waste my time studying? I can have the biggest time in my life if, at the end, an 80 per cent is worth as much as a 40 per cent! So he has the same state of mind as almost everyone in first year. Fuck it, 40%.

Reflection

I tried to write about this concept: “the marks you get during your first year don’t count in your degree”. This generates a lack of motivation from the students who prefer to do the minimum they are asked to do; they don’t work regularly and will revise only the week before the exams, if not the day before. It also leads them to botch their work and, as showed in the writing, they also tend to cheat because they didn't spend enough time revising and therefore they don’t have the knowledge required to succeed at the exams. They may also think that it's not a big deal to cheat as the marks don't count so it doesn't matter how you get them.

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