Four years of high school can be reduced to a collection of rankings and accolades: the first curve in Honors Earth Science, quarterly honor rolls, awards assemblies, and, finally, college decisions. Throughout, there remains a distinct element of competition—silent or not. Students compare grades on essays, rehash test questions, and pester each other about SAT scores. In such an environment, education can become a means to an end, rather than the end itself.

“It’s my opinion that school has become about passing a test and not about actually learning,” senior Connor Allen said.

Learning for learning’s sake, while not extinct, is widely perceived to be on the decline. “There are still people who do learn and absorb information just to learn. But I think at SPA, because of the fact that is a college preparatory school, kids do focus on their grades just to get into the college of their choice,” junior Afsar Sandozi said.

Allen believes that this perception encourages academic dishonesty, “because it can be seen as an easier way to achieve the goal or as a last hope.” However, he acknowledged that the consequences are severe enough to deter cheating. “The known harsh repercussions … de-incentivize academic dishonesty,” he said.

Junior Laura Viksnins, currently serving in her third year on the Discipline Committee, finds that academic dishonesty is largely a product of students’ workload. She notes that the cases of academic dishonesty involved last-minute plagiarism on essays and papers, rather than premeditated attempts to gain unfair advantages on tests.

“Usually they all knew what they had done was wrong, but at that point it was too late. They had already turned [the plagiarized assignment] in and were caught, or thought it was more important to get it turned in on time [than to properly cite their sources],” she said. “I wouldn’t put them down for people who would cheat.”

While Viksnins’ experience indicates that students turn to plagiarism only when they are pressed for time, she believes that the school’s competitive atmosphere also has a significant impact.

“People feel as if they can’t not [complete] anything–because everyone else somehow manages so why can’t they,” Viksnins said.

Despite the competitive factors that can motivate academic dishonesty in a competitive college preparatory environment, students do not feel that it impacts them.

“Copying homework happens occasionally, but I have rarely if ever seen it happen with tests, essays, projects, et cetera,” senior Christian Koch said.