Cheating to get in
In the fall of 1980 my guidance counselor at LaSalle Institute in Troy asked me if I’d given any serious thought to where I wanted to go to college when I graduated the following June? I told him I knew I wanted a career in writing or journalism but the truth was I hadn’t done my research yet. He told me to get busy. Jump ahead a few weeks and I learned that some of the best colleges for what I wanted were Syracuse, Boston University and UMass. I shared this information with my parents and I remember like it was yesterday what happened next.
Both of them sat me down at the kitchen table to go over what these various schools cost. B.U. and Syracuse were out of the question right out of the gate unless I was willing to take a large student loan. The idea of owing a hundred grand at the age of 22 for a piece of paper didn’t appeal to me. UMass looked like a good option but my parents encouraged me to apply to lots of schools, including several SUNY schools and H.V.C.C. just to cover all my bases.
I did as they advised and a few weeks later I was delighted to learn I’d gotten into every school I applied to. It looked like UMass was going to be the winner until I learned that as an out-of-state resident I’d have to pay a lot more than the other kids sitting in the desks around me. I know that’s only fair (since their parents paid Massachusetts state taxes) but it bothered me because, while my parents could help a little, I knew I’d be carrying most of the freight on this academic adventure. In the end I chose H.V.C.C where I got a fantastic education before transferring to SUNY Oswego and finishing out my bachelor’s degree.
I have never begrudged anyone who was lucky enough to go to a school with a bigger or fancier name. “Good for you”, I always say to them. And I’ve always hoped when I left the room, the kids in journalism and broadcasting who went to S.U. or Columbia didn’t look down on me or talk about me behind my back because I went to a community college. If they did I would tell them two things. First, I had wonderful teachers like Maureen Hood (short story) and Joe Godson ( journalism) at H.V.C.C. that lit a fire in my soul and made me want to achieve great things in writing.
Second, I would encourage them to look at where I ended up and tell me again how my schools were somehow lesser than theirs? A kid with a paper route in South Troy ends up the main anchor on a TV station, gets a weekly newspaper column and authors children’s books. I’d take that career six days a week and twice on Sunday.
I’m bringing all this up because of the recent college admission cheating scandal where the rich and powerful allegedly bribed their children into gold plated schools and universities, jumping ahead of all the other kids who weren’t lucky enough to be born rich. Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, USC were all on the list. This is not to say the schools themselves were corrupt but a handful of well-placed people in a position to help these kids cheat; if this is proven true.
We have always known that the kid whose parents donate a building to a college is going to get in no matter how bad their entrance scores may be. But this scandal takes cheating to a whole new level. Prosecutors allege that kid’s faces were literally photo shopped onto pictures of real high school varsity athletes as a way to lie on the child’s application. Others were said to be recruits and stars in sports they’d never even played. It makes you wonder how many hard working college students were rejected for a school they deserved to be in so one of these kids could take a seat they didn’t deserve or earn? One can only shake their head with wonder and disgust.
Prosecutors say the children involved in this illegal mess did not know what their parents were up to when they rigged the system to get them in an Ivy League school. I can’t imagine how awkward that conversation is going to be over that kitchen table when the wealthy parents have to tell their children they are being charged with cheating and the kid doesn’t really belong in the school they are currently in. Then of course there are the stares those students will be getting from fellow students once these names all get out and trust me the names in these things always get out.
Maybe the rich kids won’t care. Maybe it’s just the poor and middle class kids and families who find this all so offensive. I just know when you get to the end of your life you’d like to look back with pride and know, whatever you achieved, you really did earn it. That’s worth more than any fancy degree. At least this former paper boy thinks so.