My track career, my high school grades, and my life. Those are the three things that I cheat on. Sure I was caught some times, but most of the times I got away with it. One thing I know is that each time I cheated, I was the one that would face the consequences. Each time my eyes would wander during a political science exam, I would think to myself for a quick second. As I cheat on this test, how is this going to benefit me and is it worth it? Sure I will get a higher grade on this test, which could lead to a higher grade for that marking period, which could have affected my college plans. Even of all these benefits, I am cheating myself of knowledge. However I continue to cheat as I do not have the mindset and time to completely think my situation through. What if I needed this information later in life like in college. I knew karma would come back to haunt me later as I had experienced before.
Shortly after political science, I would go to track practice. At practice I would be typically be assigned to run two miles of straights and turns. Before I really cared about track, I only was on the team so it would show up on my resume. I would start to run my first of eight laps when I would complain to the coach that I had shin splints. He looked at me in the face and just sighed.
“Chul, how do you expect to get any better if you keep skipping the workouts? Just go and get some rest and come back when you are serious about track. I mean, you have been running the same times since the beginning of the season. We have been running about eight hours a week for the past four weeks.”
This is when I truly realized that I my half-stepping throughout my life has punished me. My coach’s words were strong and I realized that my plan to get through life with the least amount of effort has backfired. I am glad that I learned this lesson now in high school rather than in college.