We all need a friend who’s willing to commit academic fraud for our sake. Someone who would stick a note on their back to save us from failing a test or even pretend to have a coughing fit just to distract the professor so we can check our phones. Not that I would know anything about these tactics, of course. Duh.
But there is a TikTok user who knows a thing or two about having a friend who truly has his back. Andreas Polychronis, also known as @andreaspoly, recently shared a video on the platform that perfectly captured quite a familiar scene in a university classroom: the dreadful atmosphere of a public presentation doomed to fail.
In this video, we see a med student giving a presentation, but what you may not immediately notice is that he’s getting a little help from his friend. If you look closely, the student sitting in the front row has a heavily scribbled-upon piece of paper leaning against his shin. And if you take an even closer look, you can see that the student giving the presentation is quite obviously reading from the paper as he glances downward.
We can’t tell if the professor noticed something off about this student’s presentation. Maybe the teacher just didn’t have the right angle to spot the helpful friend in the front row. Truthfully, though, it doesn’t even matter, because despite the student’s poor presenting skills, TikTok users were definitely impressed by the friend’s quick thinking and willingness to help. “That’s a ride-or-die bestie,” one user commented. “A win is a win,” said another.
Thankfully, though, we’re not the only ones questioning the situation’s implications. While we can certainly appreciate a good friend, the biggest question remains: why is a medical student neglecting their studies? Maybe he forgot about the presentation — hey, it happens — but as another user pointed out, “I don’t want him to be my doctor.” What if I told you though, this med student isn’t the only one forgetting a presentation or two?
Not to be the bearer of bad news, but according to ResearchGate, a study shows that “academic dishonesty among students in medical school ranges from 0% to 58%.” Admittedly, this study is from 2013, but with today’s technological advances, it’s easy to imagine that the numbers have most certainly increased. Honestly, I never thought it would be possible to cheat your way through med school, but hey, TikTok always has a way of proving me wrong.