funny, to me, story.
a student, and friend of mine, who is in the undergraduate program here where i work
approached me yesterday and asked my advice. my first thought was that he had two girls and was trying to decide how to deal with both or which to stick with or something rather light (well, at least compared to what he told me next).

so, he begins the story by telling me he is working on a group project for a class outside of his major (in his words: ¨me vale¨- translated: he doesn't give a shit about it). the group of 4 kids are friends, to an extent (i doubt how tight they are, but that will come up later). as i imagine everyone at some point has done group work, you know how this dynamic usually plays out. one or two people do all the work while the rest of the group coasts, then puts their names on it. bold strategy considering that the one person who does all the work determines the grade, but laziness is key and most settle for it.

the group divvies up the work between them and a week or so later my buddy, through messenger, sends a message saying his work is done. ok, messenger, as you know, records conversations. i just want to put that out there for future reference in the narrative. he receives no response from his group. days go by and nothing. as this project is about 50% of their final grade, my friend begins to do more work. he continues sending messages, but no one responds to him.

eventually, after about a week or more, he finishes the project. at this point he makes a daring choice. my school has a slogan that translates to: creating entrepreneurs. well, my friend lived up to the billing. he sent the group a message reading:

the project is done. you have 2 options. 1- pay me 75dollars each and i will include your name. 2. pay me nothing, fail the class and pay 800 dollars to take the course again next semester.

the kid is telling me this story and i start laughing. 75 dollars does not seem like much maybe, but down here that is a good deal of money. he stands to make the equivalent of about 500 dollars off these kids. if they take the bait.

two of the three immediately agree and pay him the cash. the third person balks. she claims that 75 is too much and will pay 20. my friend laughs at her and says, ¨ok by me. now this is a three person project.¨

perhaps it was his flippant reaction to her. maybe she just felt like she was getting robbed. maybe she thought that somehow she could swindle my friend. whatever she thought, her next move was, to say the least, decisive.

she makes an appointment with her professor. after crying a bit, she then spills the story. all of it.

as a teacher, i feel i need to interject something here. i think we all know that group work is a joke. rarely do the students actually work together. one person normally does more than the others, and we all know this. in english it is especially easy to see: if the writing is continuous and has a single style, well, one person did it. three kids never write the same, and unless by some miracle they actually sat down together, there is little chance that they seamlessly blended their prose. highly unlikely. what is more likely is that one kid does the group work in english, while another does the project for history, another for science, etc. at least that is how it rolls at this school. i wont generalize and say it always happens this way, but as teachers, we know this is going down. we may not want to recognize it. we may overlook it. but, we know. it. that is how the game is played.

so my friend is busted. but so is the girl. i asked my friend if he and the others were simply going to get together and call the 4th team member a liar. he said no. he had printed the messenger records. he was going to talk to the prof and tell the truth. he did all the work. he therefore sees it as his right to sell partially rights to his project. this kid is looking me in the face, completely amazed. not that he was busted, nor that the girl told on him. he brazenly tells me that he cannot believe anyone (the prof) really gives a shit about this. he is prepared to go tell his teacher that not only does he feel justified, but that the teacher is aware of what is going on and tacitly approves of it. indeed, the prof would probably do what he did if the roles were reversed. i am a fan of john milton and my first thought was a line from ¨paradise lost¨: ¨unabashed the devil stood / and saw how evil goodness was.¨

in some ways my buddy's actions are obviously unethical and flawed. on another level, this is what professionals do every day. not all professionals, i know, but some. in many circles this would be considered quick thinking on his part. he might even get a raise because of it. where i work, this is considered standard operating procedure. the kids do it all the time (i have since asked around). affluent families, somewhat warped morals (although this last part is highly debatable) and a general dearth of positive role models (this is another post) leads to this sort of action. i am not justifying it. nor am i condemning it. this is what happens.

like it or not, we are a business. school is big money. pressure to succeed, get a better job than your peers, outshine your parents or simply pay for yourself/family all have a great impact. capitalism is the chosen route of many modern societies. this is the modern language. if we dont like the results, we have to change the rules. i dont see anyone standing up to go first.