John Ashley

By John Ashley

Sometimes, people have it all. Jake, a friend of mine, was tall, muscular, smart, in a great relationship, and hardworking. He is a what I like to call a nerd bro, a guy who seems like a jock, but also loves studying and getting good grades. Everything about Jake indicated that he was going to be successful in achieving our shared dream, becoming neurosurgeons. Through our shared interests in neurosurgery, Electrical & Biomedical Engineering, lifting weights, and hard work, I became quite fond of Jake. I was a year ahead of him, and I helping him through the premed process.

Unexpectedly, our relationship ended abruptly when he was expelled from school. Jake was the finance chair of student government and the president of the Spikeball club. He had immorally allocated funds to the Spikeball club and spent it on trips with his friends and girlfriend. Over the past summer he took multiple trips around the country ranging from Chicago to California. Rumor had it that he was staying in the Trump hotel. In total, Jake spent $38,000 of his $46,000 Spikeball budget in ways that he was unable to justify. This broke down to stealing two dollars from every student at NDSU. In his position, he was able to immorally sign off expenses. NDSU was able to expel him for his action, but they were unable press criminal charges. His actions were unjust, but not quite illegal.

While it was obviously moronic to steal the money, it goes to show that pursuing long term goals requires integrity. While Jake had great research, great experiences, and a 4.0 GPA, he will never get into medical school. His actions, not his abilities, prevented him from pursuing his dream. My guess is that if Jake was willing to make such obvious, immoral actions, there is likely a trail of smaller, less noticeable offenses.

In 2022, there are mountains of opportunities to make money. However, it only takes one act to compromise your reputation. Don’t fail like Jake because you wanted extravagant experiences before you could afford them. Cash is not worth the price of becoming a corrupt person. Instead, be honest, be just, and live with the satisfaction of having solid ethics.