Honesty rewarded

So, I am in my last week of school for the year. I had my last Anatomy & Physiology class today before our final on Thursday. Our professor is amazing. He is a retired cow Veterinarian who decided to retire, go into nursing at 50 y.o., then ended up becoming a community college teacher. Go figure. Regardless, he is intelligent and SO fun to listen to. I suppose if we have to listen to a lecture for two hours a day it should be funny at the very least, right.

Well, he is notorious for being extremely late with returning our tests and assignments to us. Sometimes it is WEEKS later that we actually find out our grade. So we wait with bated breath to find out our test results. Well, today was one of those days. At the beginning of class, I received my muscle anatomy test results. I was thrilled to see I received a 94%. Well, that is what the paper said anyway.

Upon showing a classmate who asked what I got, he quickly deduced the calculation of my grade was incorrect, and I had been "given" ten extra points. So instead of a 94% grade, my ACTUAL grade was 84% - huge difference. You can imagine my disappointment. You can also imagine the inner turmoil that ensued the entire two hours of class. I don't really remember what he lectured on today because I was so caught up with my struggle of whether to tell my professor about the error.

The inner conversation went something like:

"It's his fault. He did the math, not me. Besides, he already recorded the grades... what's the big deal?"

"Well, the big deal is that's not honest. They aren't your points. Yes, he made a mistake, but you can't have what's not yours. If a cashier gave you more money than you were supposed to get, you'd give it back, right? Same thing - they aren't your points, give them back."


And back and forth and back and forth.... for the entire class. Finally I realized the good side was right, and I needed to be honest. Yes it was his mistake, but they weren't my points to keep. Bummer.

So after the class was over, I went up front and looked him in the eye. "As much as I hate to tell you this, you made a mistake in your math and subtracted 10 instead of 20."

"I did, huh?" he said.

"Yep"

"Well," he smiled, "it is my policy that if I screw it up and it's in your favor, you keep the points."

"No freakin' way."

"Yes, it is. It's my mistake, you keep 'em."

Wow... I don't even know what to say to that but thank you, Doc. Erickson.

I am so glad I listened to my conscience. I know it would have eaten me alive. I certainly didn't expect him to give me the points, but I can't say I'm not happy about keeping them! So, kids... let this be a lesson: honesty is rewarding - even if it is only for piece of mind.