Students: Why waste AACC?

Most full-time AACC students pay around $4,000 every year to attend this school.

Yet many of them try to find every way to get out of learning anything.

From relying on artificial intelligence to write their papers to paying their classmates to take notes and do their homework, it seems like, for some, the goal of college is to get that diploma with the least amount of effort and learning possible.

So students: Why spend $4,000 each year to not learn?

Is it to get that piece of paper and land that internship? What happens when you get to that internship and you need to use the required knowledge you supposedly learned in college?

A piece of paper with your name on it means nothing if you didn’t do what that diploma symbolizes you did. That certificate is supposed to certify something.

Shortcuts have consequences. You can get kicked out of AACC for plagiarism, which could also prevent you from going to other colleges if they look you up and find records of cheating.

Even if you get away with plagiarism in college and no one finds out after you graduate, you will still be in trouble when you go into the workforce without the proper knowledge and training.

When your boss asks you to type up a report, and it is full of errors and bad grammar, the supervisor will think, “Wow, did this employee even take English 101?”

Each time you plagiarize an essay or cheat on a test, you contribute to a future for yourself where you’re underprepared for your career.

Depending on your major and career choice, the repercussions of this could become a lot more serious than a poorly written office report. An engineer who didn’t learn the right formula, for instance, could design a building that will collapse.

That said, the question still stands: “Why waste it?”

Why waste your tuition money? Why waste your opportunity to really learn something? Why waste your time going to college?

With all the money and time you or your parents spend on college, why not make it worth it?

It seems many students are trying to find every way to get out of learning while at college. The question is: “Why attend if you’re just going to waste it?” Shown, students pretend to cheat in a posed photo of professor Sharon O’Malley’s journalism class.

Growing up, my brother and I did everything together. He’s two years older and always made it his responsibility to protect me. I used to be really shy and hated speaking to anyone outside of my family. Until I was 5, I used to hide behind my brother and let him speak for me. We even had our own language.

As I got older, I gained more independence and started my own path in theater and performing arts. He made sure to never miss a performance, and I paid him back by watching every one of his hockey games, no matter how long the drive or how cold the rink.

As homeschooled students for our whole lives, we had unique opportunities to explore our interests in a hands-on manner. Our education has been closely tied together and we could always look to each other whenever we struggled or got picked last for a project. There have been late nights making slides together at 2 a.m. while eating grilled cheese when we both had projects due.

Since I entered high school a year ago, we’ve spent more time apart, and I’ve discovered sides of our relationship neither of us knew existed. We’ve gone from building couch forts and fighting over the last fruit snack to latenight gossip sessions and rides to a friend’s house with the music blaring.

Luckily, I was able to start going to AACC during Aidan’s last semester as a dual-enrollment high school senior, so we get to spend these last few months together before he goes away to a four-year university.

It began with Aidan protecting me, but now we protect each other. And I will always feel grateful to have him as my brother and friend, and for this very special semester, as my fellow AACC student.

But who am I kidding? College or not, I’m always going to fight him over the last bag of fruit snacks.