1 year down, 3 to go!

I am still in a bit of disbelief that I have completed my first year of pharmacy school. I'm grateful to be where I am today. It took a lot of hard work fixing past educational mistakes (aka bad grades) to get into pharmacy school and it was a struggle I wasn't sure I would be able to overcome. I remember being extremely excited to start, but equally nervous about the coursework. To my surprise, I did very well my first year. I still love what I do and what I'm learning, and that makes all the struggles worthwhile. I'm grateful for summer break and even though I'm excited and terrified for next year, I am excited for some R&R.

One thing I'm actually really upset about are some of my classmates. It's been circulating that we have some people in our class that have cheated on multiple exams throughout the year. What makes me even angrier is the school can't do anything unless they actually catch them and those that see the cheating going on just complain about it after the fact. Sure, no one likes being the person to "rat out" a classmate for cheating, but it's not fair to their future patients, or us as a class to let something like this go. I am friends with a few of those that have been cheating and I would honestly not just let it go because of our friendship. Correction, they were my friends, because I don't tolerate cheating. If my best friend were to ask me to help him cheat, it'd be over. Not that he ever would. We both worked too hard and come to far to jeopardize it with cheating. It's not that they are being accused without evidence, they have actually told other classmates about how awesome they are at cheating. What. The. F-ck. Who DOES that?

Cheating is a big deal. Sure, first year is a lot of basic stuff, but what about next year and the year after that? They could kill a patient some day. They could make mistakes that reflects poorly not only on our profession, but us as a class and school. It really pisses me off because a few of them have nearly perfect GPAs when those in my class who are struggling to pass are at least doing it honestly.

I kind of wish I noticed it during exams, but I am in my own little world of focus and terror during exams. Well, they better get ready to learn everything on our own. Several people have talked professors and the dean about it. If they get caught and for whatever reason are allowed to stay, I think they need to start over from the beginning.

I know I may sound idealistic, but cheating has no place in a profession that holds the lives of other people in their hands. I know it happens in medical school, dental school, etc too, but it is not something that should be tolerated or taken lightly.