The only problem I had with other students at university was dealing with freeloaders.
Very early on in my degree I allowed another student to read some of my work. It quickly became apparent they were planning to plagiarise it. I warned them not to and nothing came of it, but it was a valuable lesson:
- Only work with people who share your commitment and ethics
- Never give anyone else your work, or leave work unattended
Plagiarism is taken very seriously by universities, if someone copies your work, you will also be penalised.
Freeloaders come in many guises, using a mixture of humour, charm, flirtation and sympathy as emotional levers. Failing this more unpleasant forms of guile and pressure are applied.
Never the less, freeloaders are usually easy to identify as:
- You will not see them at university lectures
- You will not see them in the university library
- When you do see them at university they will be messing around
- They will ultimately try and manipulate you into helping them with their own degree assignments
A proactive approach is often helpful in countering attempts at manipulation:
- Suggest they start their degree assignments
- Advise them to turn up to university lectures
- Advise them to seek help from university lecturers if they are struggling
- Make it clear that they are heading toward failure (as opposed to being bailed out by you)
If they take your advice they will not need to ask for your work.
If they do not take your advice then you have already put the onus back on them and implied you are not going to bail them out, thus making it harder for them to ask for work, and easier for you to say no.
I guarantee, if you start giving work to freeloaders on your degree course they will keep taking all the way through your degree and give nothing of value back in return.
That said, you should help others on your degree where you can, it’s a good thing to do, and at some point you will need help and advice from other students in return. If you see someone working hard to help themselves, but struggling with particular topics on your degree course then there is no reason not to help them.
What I am saying is set your boundaries and don’t let anyone take advantage of you.
A very useful site, a common sense approach by the editor which if applied will help others who read this site to obtain a worthwhile grade.
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Hmmm,
I have 3 weeks left until I break from university, I am in the final year. Freeloaders do hang around in the library, they do come to university lectures but they just do not understand but sit down there just looking and pretending they understand. When they are finished, they bleed you dry. I made the mistake of helping people in my 1st and 2nd years, but do not do this! Today, now, I have more people who dislike me than ever, but remember when you go to university, nearly 75% of the people would not be your friends, only those small percentage MAY and I stress may be your friend. Just go in there to do business. But keep it distant and be careful that you show too much knowledge to them because they latch onto you like leeches.
In My second year, One of the student in my class whom I thought was a real friend, copied my entire assignment on the pretext of just wanting to understand the work. THE RESULT: the lecturer gave him the marks and me a zero for plagiarism.
Careful friends.
My Uni gave zero marks to both parties which was fairer, the rule was simple, dont share your work!
I nearly got burned with this early on in my course, as mentioned above, it was a lesson learned!