Cheaters often prosper

I realize that I'm exposing myself as a hopeless prig by admitting this, but I'll never understand why people cheat. I marvel at the time and energy some students put into cheating, and I wonder: why not use that time and energy doing something more worthwhile, like--oh I don't know, studying for the test?

It wasn't even a difficult test, at least for those who had done the reading. Students had to know the titles, authors, and significant ideas of ten or twelve short works of fiction and know how those stories fit into a few literary movements. Piece of cake. But nevertheless I saw heads craning to glance at other students' papers and afterward I saw evidence of cheat sheets. Why not just do the reading?

The test required a small amount of memorization and I suppose some people are better at memorization than others, but still: it was possible to get a perfectly respectable B on the test without even knowing the titles and authors of the works involved. Why not settle for a B instead of risking an F?

From a cursory glance at the exams, it's fairly obvious that some students simply would rather not do the reading. I don't understand this either. This is terrific stuff! Henry James, Charles Chesnutt, Kate Chopin, Sara Orne Jewett! How could anyone possibly prefer putting together a cheat cheat to reading Kate Chopin?

People tell me there's some sort of adrenaline rush involved in cheating. Maybe so; maybe I'm the one who's missing out on some essential human experience. I did cheat in class once, back around sixth grade (true confessions time). I've forgotten all the salient details, but I'll never forget the attack of guilt that kept me awake that night.

Here's a novel idea: get the adrenaline rush without the guilt and learn something in the process. How? Read Henry James, Charles Chesnutt, Kate Chopin, Sara Orne Jewett....the list goes on into infinity, and so do the rewards. I'm cynical enough to know that cheaters often prosper, but what can they gain that exceeds the excitement of reading Kate Chopin?