Excellence

The American Heritage dictionary defines excellence as he state, quality, or condition of excelling; superiority. I do agree with this definition, yet I feel that the common use of the word is much different. People use the word excellent to describe something done well, but I don’t believe that this is the correct use. Excellence is something done above and beyond the required effort; its something amazing. Based on how I view excellence I don’t believe students are cheating to achieve excellence, they are doing so just to get by.
In a society that demands so much out of students, it’s very easy to get wrapped up in the competition for the top spot of the class. I do not believe that these are the people that are using cheating to get ahead in school. The people that use cheating to get ahead are merely trying to get by, or gain some recognition. I see no correlation with most students cheating and their desire to do something excellent. Though I do not believe that the students cheat to gain recognition, there are definitely people that do break the rules to try to make a name for themselves.
In Nancy Gibbs’, “Reading Between the Lies: A young reporter who stole and made up stories forces the New York Times to take stock,” she talks about how a young African American reporter had been stealing and falsifying stories in order to get ahead. I don’t believe that he had any other desire than to make a name for himself, and that desire was enough for him to break the rules and risk everything for a chance at it. This is an example of how the desire for people to be deemed excellent by other s can potentially ruin your career and consume your life. There is an example of this in one of the greatest movie series of all time, Star Wars.
Young Anakin Skywalker had such a strong desire to be the best; he risked, and lost, everything he had. Skywalker was a Jedi Knight, a protector of the republic, who had been trained in the ways of the force. It was clear from early on that he was going to be a great Jedi one day, who would be destined for great things. It was not long before Skywalker had lost his respect for the republic and began his overthrow. With the help of the Sith Lord Darth Serious, Anakin began he quest to overthrow the Jedi Order, giving up everything he cared for just for power. He did eventually succeed which made him the ruler of the galaxies. I guess what my point it that the desire for excellence can consume people, which is definitely a negative effect.

Gibbs, Nancy (2003). Reading Between the Lies 1-2.
TimePuka, Professor Bill (2005). Student Cheating Liberal Education 32-35