Cheater, Cheater!

It was a blistering Tuesday afternoon. It was one of those days when it was so unimaginably hot you couldn't focus on anything. Unfortunately, it was also the day of my chemistry unit test. It was 10:30 in the morning, and my black shirt was already soaked like I had slept in Water World for 5 days.

My thinking process was fried. Who cared about polarity and hydrogen bonds? What was electromagnetism? My mind was making all these lame questions when I really should have been feverishly finishing the 5-page long test.

I really needed to do well on this test too. I was stuck at an 87% currently, and if I didn't end the year with a 95%, the chances of me being flogged or disowned by my parents were frightening high. Besides the physical intimidation, I also needed a high mark in chemistry if I was going to apply any prestigious university in Grade 12. God, I needed to ace this test.

Now let me tell you about my friend Jebidiah. He's the top-of-the-class kind of student, and practically a professional when it comes to polarity and bonds. Oh, and did I tell you that he was sitting next to me on this fateful day?

I weighed my options. Our chemistry teacher was busy sipping her OJ like nobody's business. She seemed to be in her own dimension, more lost than Micheal Phelps in the Saudi Arabian desert. I could cheat... a small glimpse couldn't hurt anyone, could it?

...An inconspicuous nudge later, Jebidiah and I were practicing academic communism. He made sure there were no blanks on my page, and we made sure that all of our answers matched.

***

Reflecting back, I can see how this personal experience relates to Macbeth. Like Macbeth, I wanted something so badly that I  went through any means to reach my goal. To achieve a good mark on that chemistry test, I made an immoral decision to cheat. My ambition blinded me from seeing the potential consequences of my actions. If I had been caught, the incident would have left a permanent, ugly stain on my Ontario Student Record. It would have crushed all my future dreams in academics, and being accepted to a prestigious university would be a joke in my agenda. In Macbeth, Macbeth's life spirals downward as soon as he makes the fateful, unwise decision to kill Duncan; my life would have been no different if this cheating incident had been exposed. Macbeth's choice to murder King Duncan and mine to cheat both show how practical judgement can quickly disappear as soon is there is a craving that needs to be satisfied.

We stumble across many desperate situations throughout our lifetimes; hopefully, we can learn from the tragedy of Macbeth and make wise, moral decisions, even in the face of immense desire.

*Note: All similarities to real people in this blog post are merely coincidental. The following events are purely fictional as well.
*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of undisclosed individuals.