By Susan Currie
One student’s story of academic integrity in the face of the almighty dollar
I’ve done a lot to sustain my addiction to higher education: I’ve been a student caller, a maid, a cat sitter, a waitress, and a security person in a big yellow coat. Hell, I’ve had someone offer me one hundred dollars to publically kiss my feet and take me out for sushi, which I accepted (who wouldn’t?). I’ve done tawdry things to get myself through my post secondary education — those yellow security jackets still haunt my dreams.
Yes, when it comes to tuition payments my morals drop, but as I scrolled through the “Part Time” section of Craigslist and decided to try my hand at Tutoring, I didn’t think I’d be risking all that much. Not like I did when I replied to those “Sexy foot photos, no nudity, HONEST” ads.
The ad was for a part-time tutoring service, so I put in my resume and had a reply within days. I sat down in the illustrious Bread Garden where the interviews were being held and was asked the standard questions. When I got to the end of the interview I figured “Here’s another for the mediocre jobs list,” with no idea that the real interview was just beginning.
“You said you were able to tutor up to second-year university?”
“Absolutely.”
“That’s great.” My interviewer looked around and then back at me, “Sometimes our students, they’re really busy and they don’t always have time to do their homework — they don’t always prioritize English classes, and well sometimes they might ask if you’d be willing to. . . .”
“Oh, yeah, don’t worry, I’ve had friends who are TAs and I’m more than aware of how easy it is to catch someone who’s cheating. I’d inform the student of the risks, and tell them that those are not the services I offer.” I beamed, knowing I’d said the right thing.
Apparently not though. My interviewer’s eyes got wide and she looked side-to-side and then down, her mouth became smaller and thinner. “Well. . . .” she said.
“Oh…” I said, getting it, “Oh. . . . well . . . I’d still tell them how easy it is to get caught, but . . . if you wanted me to do that you’d have to pay me a lot more.” She smiled happily.
The moment I said it I felt dirty.
“We tell them it’s a reference, that they’re only to use it to reference off of.”
“Of course. So when I write their papers for them I’m not really writing them to be handed in.” She didn’t like that I said it out loud.
I negotiated the cost of pimping my brains. I left the interview with a contract.
What was I getting myself into? As I watched candidate after candidate file in I realized that almost every one of these individuals was going to have the same request made of them. The implications were tremendous. I’d be out of school soon and not working in the education system, so what would be the actual harm to me?
I realized that this isn’t an obese man struggling in the streets to kiss my pedicured toes — this is plagiarism. And unlike toe guy, it wouldn’t be a one-off deal.
When you get that dirty feeling outside of the bedroom you know what to do. Yes, it’s costing me potential dollars, but let’s just say: I’ll do a lot for cash, but I won’t do that. In my opinion, it’s just not worth it.
