The Users
By Mona, age 18, Philippines
Sweet Designs Featured Writer
College brings many things. We meet new people, experience a lot of different things, and most of all form lifelong friendships. But not all people in college are what we think they are. Some are manipulative opportunists, waiting for the opportunity to meet someone in class who can help them get ahead. I call them "the users".
The users, well, they use other people to get what they want. Freeloaders or leeches, as some people call them. They leech off of your group activity, and they make you do all the work, and in the end they get a high grade. This semester, I'm down to my last English class, and in this class we are tasked to do a research paper. A research paper that needs a lot of references, drafts, process sheets, and outlines. We were paired because, as crazy as it sounds, my teacher is too lazy to check papers, especially if she handles over 90 students.
I have this classmate - let's call her "Jill". Jill is a fairly good student. She's active in all her organizations and she has a lot of friends. Since we knew each other over the summer, she chose me to be her pair and I accepted not knowing the hell I was going to go through. At first, everything was fine. We did the work equally and we passed in all our requirements on time.
Everything started when we had to pass in note cards for all our references. Making note cards is not a joke. It takes a lot of work, not to mention a lot of time. We needed 30 so we decided to divide it between us. I made my set of note cards a week before the deadline. Days before the deadline, she told me she had this really important test she had to study for. I was hesitant at first, but I finally told her that I'd do her set. So I did.
A few weeks later, we needed another set, so I expected that she'd do her part, but she didn't. I did her set again. When we passed them in, the teacher said that this was an individual task and the note cards should have only one name, and that name had to be the one who made them. I didn't expect the next thing that happened. She grabbed the note cards and started writing her name on them. The note cards that I made! I was so furious, but I didn't show it because I didn't want any chaos. Because of her social connections, she was the kind of girl I could not mess with. I would be destroyed if we ever fought. I also did our group's very detailed outline and she took credit. I was so annoyed. I was especially irritated when the teacher gave back the note cards, only to find out that the note cards she'd put her name on had a higher score than mine. Talk about unfair!
I'm so tempted to report this to my teacher, but I am just so scared. My social life is on the line. These people, these users, are the most dangerous people you could meet in college. It's bad to meet one and it's bad to be one. Always remember to choose your friends wisely. If you don't have that choice, just stay away from these people, and unlike me, report this to your teacher right away. Make college a fun experience - avoid the users.
