An interesting case developed this week at the University of Rochester in New York. A freshman student has already been sent home after it was discovered that she misrepresented herself on her application forms. The student stated during her admission process that she had been home-schooled through high school and provided the adequate documentation proving her credentials. However, the student had actually attended a private school during those years. Therefore, it was determined that the student was hiding something, perhaps some sort of grievance with her former school, by completely fabricating a story about her secondary education experience.
Big question #1: how incompetent is this school that it didn't do a thorough enough examination of the student to catch this deceit in the first place. Pretty lax admissions standards over there at Rochester, eh?
But what makes this story interesting is how the student was found out. Upon getting accepted to the university, she (of course!) felt the need to go post on social media how excited she was to begin school at Rochester. However, someone affiliated with school saw the post and was confused by it. The student in question had never asked the school for any documentation or letters of reference to be sent to Rochester, nor had she ever mentioned to anyone before that she was even applying to that school. Rochester was then contacted about the deceit, and the student was expelled.
Big question #2: who is the busybody from this school trolling the internet and butting into people's lives to rat them out?
I wish was there was more information available about this incident. What exactly was the student covering up? What kind of high school did she go to? What other details about her situation could clarify this for us? One has to wonder if this were a student from a low-performing school in a high-poverty district, was from a single-parent household, had an immigrant background, did volunteer work with the elderly, was a math genius, and only fudged her transcript because she was embarrassed about a minor problem at school, if Rochester would've viewed her deceitfulness as ingenuity and a brave step toward improving her future.
Big question #3: why in the world would this student tell the world about the fraud she just got away with?
Because she couldn't help it. This is our culture. We have to tell the world every single thing about our lives, all the time. Even when we do something stupid, like breaking school policies, we somehow have developed this narcissistic burning desire to show the world how clever we are. So allow me to let social media users in on a little secret that no one else is brave enough to tell you. We don't care about seeing the 4,000th photo of your baby. We don't care about your puppy or your cat. We don't want to see yet another selfie of you at the gym. And even though getting into college is an valuable part of your development, if it's really that important, just call people on the phone and give them the good news...you know, like a human being. Just live your life. If people want to see something or hear about something, they will ask you personally. Otherwise, the world doesn't need an open window into your daily existence, especially when you are lying and cheating.
Here's the lesson, folks: when you break the rules and happen to get away with it, don't blab about it on social media.
Big question #1: how incompetent is this school that it didn't do a thorough enough examination of the student to catch this deceit in the first place. Pretty lax admissions standards over there at Rochester, eh?
But what makes this story interesting is how the student was found out. Upon getting accepted to the university, she (of course!) felt the need to go post on social media how excited she was to begin school at Rochester. However, someone affiliated with school saw the post and was confused by it. The student in question had never asked the school for any documentation or letters of reference to be sent to Rochester, nor had she ever mentioned to anyone before that she was even applying to that school. Rochester was then contacted about the deceit, and the student was expelled.
Big question #2: who is the busybody from this school trolling the internet and butting into people's lives to rat them out?
I wish was there was more information available about this incident. What exactly was the student covering up? What kind of high school did she go to? What other details about her situation could clarify this for us? One has to wonder if this were a student from a low-performing school in a high-poverty district, was from a single-parent household, had an immigrant background, did volunteer work with the elderly, was a math genius, and only fudged her transcript because she was embarrassed about a minor problem at school, if Rochester would've viewed her deceitfulness as ingenuity and a brave step toward improving her future.
Big question #3: why in the world would this student tell the world about the fraud she just got away with?
Because she couldn't help it. This is our culture. We have to tell the world every single thing about our lives, all the time. Even when we do something stupid, like breaking school policies, we somehow have developed this narcissistic burning desire to show the world how clever we are. So allow me to let social media users in on a little secret that no one else is brave enough to tell you. We don't care about seeing the 4,000th photo of your baby. We don't care about your puppy or your cat. We don't want to see yet another selfie of you at the gym. And even though getting into college is an valuable part of your development, if it's really that important, just call people on the phone and give them the good news...you know, like a human being. Just live your life. If people want to see something or hear about something, they will ask you personally. Otherwise, the world doesn't need an open window into your daily existence, especially when you are lying and cheating.
Here's the lesson, folks: when you break the rules and happen to get away with it, don't blab about it on social media.