Whilemyfriendswhoweremajoringinbiologyandengineeringlamentedthatprofessorsheldthemalestudentsinhigherregard,Iexperiencedtheoppositesituation.Myprofessors,bothmenandwomen,consistentlymadecommentsaboutthesuperiorityofthefemalestudents.Iwasn』tabouttoargue,butthebiaswasobvious.
IfIhadbeenaconscientiousdefenderoftruth,IsupposeIcouldhavegonetothedepartmentchairmanandcomplainedaboutthebiaswasresultinginmyelevatedgrade.ButbeingtheopportunistthatIwas,Ienjoyedtheride.Ididn』tslackoffbutIdevelopedasortofcockyconfidencethatIhadneverexperiencedinmyfirstthreeyearsofcollege.
有些專業吸引更多的女性，而另一些專業吸引更多的男性。也許這是遺傳基因預先安排好的，或者是性別偏見的教育造成的。作為坦普大學的一名新聞專業學生，我的同學多數是女性。女性比例雖沒有占壓倒優勢，但接近65％。
我們所學課程都是具有挑戰性的。教授們全是新聞領域裡幹了一輩子的職業工作者。從基本的概論課到高級課程，每個教授都督促我們寫出較高質量的作品、注意文章的準確和細節描寫以及語法的規範等。
到四年級時，我已經與系裡的教授們建立起密切的關係。我是個勤奮的學生。我有時在地鐵裡做完作業，或是在上課前幾分鐘做完，一般每次都能得A。
有一位教授與每個學生會面討論他們的長處和弱點，與我會面時只有熱情的表揚。我被邀請輔導其他學生，對此我欣然應允。新聞系有人斷定我是個最有前途的學生。我不知道是哪一位教授，但我確實有一位保護天使。後來，我注意到我們班裡有幾位女生跟我的經歷相似。但我們班的男生們學得很吃力，幾乎沒有人取得好成績。是性別歧視還是女生天生就是擅長於寫作呢？我認為二者都在起作用。
我的主修生物學和工程學的朋友們，悲歎教授們重視男生，但我的情況卻恰恰相反。我的教授不管是男是女，總是評價女生的優越性。我不會去爭辯，但性別偏見顯而易見。
如果我是真理的真正捍衛者，我想我可能要到系主任那裡投訴造成我高分的性別偏見。但我是個機會主義者，我喜歡搭這種偏見的順風車。我沒有鬆懈，但我養成了一種大學前三年從沒有過的驕傲自信的心態。
NobodyWantstoCheat誰也不想作弊
I』vecheatedinschoolwhenIthoughtthatIcouldgetawaywithit.I』mnotproudofitandIdon』tusuallyfeelverygoodaboutmyselfafterward,butsometimesit』stheonlywaypossibletosurviveinapressurecooker.Myparentsarereallysetonmygettinggoodgrades.Theystudymyreportcardthesamewaytheyscrutinizethenewspaper』sstockmarketpage.AndtheymakemefeelthatI』vegottoliveuptotheirexpectations.
Ican』tremembermymotherorfathereveraskingmeaboutwhatIactuallylearnedinschoolorifIenjoyedaparticularsubject.Instead,it』salwaysbeen,「Howareyoudoingingeometry?」or「How』dyourEnglishteacherlikeyourpaper?」
It』shardtodisappointthem.Whenmygradesevenbegintodropatall,IfeelasthoughI』vefailed.It』sanawfulfeeling.
Someteachersarereallyrough.They』llgivetestscontainingatleastoneortwoquestionsonmaterialswe』veneverevencoveredinclass.It』snotalwayspossibletocomeoutahead.
Idon』tthinkthatmostteachersunderstandhowmuchwe』reexpectedtoproduce.Orevenwhatgoodgradesandourclassrankcanmeantous.Ifyouwanttogetintoareallygoodcollege,you』vegottohaveatopacademicrecord.Withoutthat,alltheextracurricularactivitiesyoumayhaveengagedincanmeannothing.
Butoftenit』slikeeachteacheractsasifhisistheonlysubjectwehave.Theythinknothingofpilingonourhomeworkorgivingsurprisequizzes.Sometimeswehavetotaketwoorthreetestsindifferentsubjectsonthesameday.I』dliketoseealotofadultsIknowpreparingforthat.
Whentheworkloadbecomestoodifficult,somekidsmayresorttocheating.Ifyouhavethreeorfoursubjectstostudyfor,you』renotgoingtobeabletodevoteenoughtimetoeachsubjectinordertobewellpreparedforeachclass.
Nevertheless,you』restillexpectedtoaceeverything.Andyou』llusuallyendupcheatingintheclassesyouareleastpreparedfor.Thoseusuallyturnouttobethesubjectsyoudon』tlikeortendtodopoorlyin.Itmaybetheonlywaylefttoliveuptoyourparents』expectationsandcompetewiththetopstudentsintheclass.
Everybodyknowsthatifyoucheat,it』scrucialnottogetcaught.Fewthingscancausemoreofanuproar.Oncemyolderbrothergotcaughtcheatingonamathfinal.Myparentsactedasthoughhe』dcommittedafederaloffense.Theassistantprincipalcalledthemtoschool,butalthoughtheincidentsparkedseveralconferences,Idon』tthinkthatanybodyeverreallyunderstoodwhatmybrotherwasgoingthrough.We』rejustsupposedtoperformexceptionallyaswellasalwaysacthonestly,buthowmanyadultscanactuallyliveuptothestandardstheysetforus?
Myfatherhasgottencountlesstrafficticketsforparkinginno-parkingzonesorfornotcomingtoafullstopatstopsigns.Andyou』realwayshearingaboutpeoplewhodon』tfiletheirincometaxhonestly.Sometimesthey』reevenadmiredfortheircunningincheatingtheIRS.Howaboutallthecorruptioningovernment?Successfuladultsoftenacceptdishonestyinordertoachievetheirbusinessgoals.Arekidstheonlyoneswhoaresupposedtobeperfect?
Mostofmyfriendshavecheatedontestsinschoolatonetimeoranother.Thekidswhonevercheatareusuallyeitherafraidofgettingcaughtorjustdon』tknowhowtodoitsafely.Nobodywantstocheat.Butifit』sachoiceofbeinghonestorofgettingagrade,mostkidswilltryfortheA.Thatmaysoundwrong,butwedidn』tmaketherules,we』rejusttryingtogetby.