pwnthesat essay contest

Dylan Catlow

Dylancatlow@comcast.net

The definition of an achievement can takes many forms. For some, an achievement is competing against themselves, others compete to be the best; but how does one define an achievement? Is the achievement of doing well on a test the score, or the studying behind it? Is success in life measured by how high one gets, or how hard one tries? When one artificially changes their scores on a test or achieves something dishonestly, people still treat them as if they had done it honestly. The score on the test doesn’t change, but the impact or influence of that score does. Achievements are diminished if they are achieved dishonestly as it is the road taken to success which counts, not the result.

For instance, if one cheated on his SAT and got a score he would have never normally achieved, the implications could be negative. Say this cheater gets accepted into a very difficult university, as the admission staff honestly thought he was as ready as his scores appeared to make him. The cheater is jubilant at his “success” and scoffs at his friends for not cheating with him. On the first day of the semester, he is completely stupefied at the difficulty of his classes, and by the end of the semester has a 1.5 GPA and drops out. Now he has mountains of student loan debt and no college degree to pay them off. He now has learned that an achievement isn’t the end result; it is the road one took to get there.

The motivation to win dishonestly is to protect one’s ego from reality. For instance a contestant at a swimming competition jumps in a second before the shot is called and wins by less than a second. What has this contestant achieved? He isn’t faster than the rest of the contestants, which is what the competition is testing; he just won. So what motivated this contestant to cheat? Was it the praise he would receive, because it couldn’t be the feeling he would get from winning honestly. He hasn’t achieved anything yet he wants to see the illusion that he has.

Is what a society defines as dishonest what dishonesty really is, or is there an absolute definition? If a society defines a “cheater” as someone who hides Jews from nazis as dishonest, should they be looked down on, or is it up to individuals to question the definition of dishonesty and challenge it? Fighting a dysfunctional system with dishonesty is sometimes appropriate and it is up to the individual to decide when it is. 

Achievements are diminished if they are achieved dishonestly, as it is the road taken not the result that defines an achievement. The motivation to win dishonestly is to protect one’s ego from reality with an illusion of winning. Reality will always conquer illusion as it is the medium in which illusion takes place.

Achievements are diminished when they are accomplished dishonestly because dishonest achievements do not represent a person’s true abilities. Several examples from my life and recent events prove that deceitfully attained achievements do not hold the same value as legitimately attained achievements.

Through the actions of one of my classmates, it is easy to see exactly how accomplishments achieved underhandedly are certainly less impressive than accomplishments achieved honestly. This student cheated on the first chemistry test of the year, setting the curve and getting a perfect score. His hard working peers lauded him as a “natural” at chemistry and a “genius.” In reality, the student did not actually understand the material. Consequently, he failed the next unit’s test which expanded on what he had previously been tested on and confessed to cheating on the first test. His teacher and peers lost their respect for him as they realized he was a deceptive phony, not the “chemistry genius” they initially perceived him as. Thus, the actions of my classmate prove how accomplishments achieved through cheating are perceived as being less valuable because they do not represent a person’s actual skill.

As demonstrated by Linda Metcalf’s dishonesty in a recent New York Marathon, achievements are certainly diminished when they are accomplished unfairly, as they do not accurately represent a person’s abilities. Metcalf entered the grueling 3o mile marathon hoping to win 1st place. However, as she fell behind, she stealthily entered a local mall where she lounged for four hours while observing the race progress from her cell phone. Metcalf proceeded to call up a friend who transported her to a point near the race’s finish. Metcalf then jumped out of the friend’s car and ran briefly to the finish line, nabbing the coveted gold medal. However, Metcalf felt guiltily for cheating the runners who actually ran the whole race and confessed to cheating the next day, renouncing her gold medal. As a result, the award was transferred to the runner who had rightfully finished the race first, earning him accolades and respect from fellow runners. Therefore, Metcalf acknowledged that she achieved her gold medal through an unfair advantage that did not represent her actual skill as a runner. She herself did not feel that she deserved the honor of first place since her cheating devalued the sense of achievement that came with the award.

After a careful analysis of the actions of my classmate and Linda Metcalf, honesty is indeed crucial for an achievement to be viewed at its full value. When achievements are accomplished dishonestly, their value is lessened because they do not accurately represent a person’s skill in that field.