It was the summer of ’98 and I was a new student at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Within the beautiful campus of green trees and vintage buildings, the Sarratt Student Center stood. The center was named after one of the mathematicians and professors of the university, Charles Madison Sarratt.
The story goes that Sarratt once addressed his students who were about to take their Trigonometry exam in words akin to these:
“Today, you’ll be sitting for two exams. One is that of Trigonometry and the other is that of honesty. I wish that you pass them both. But should you fail one, let it be Trigonometry.”
These words of Sarratt moved me deeply when I first heard them at the age of 17 and they move me even today.
Exams are tools we use to assess our knowledge and skills. They help inform teachers and learners in a context where a learner is evaluated on their learning inputs and outcomes. They allow us to look at information objectively and help us plan the way forward in terms of instruction and educational growth.
The effect of exams therefore, is that we only cheat ourselves and no-one else.
So whenever you sit for your test and exam, know that for every paper or practical exam that you sit for, you are simultaneously sitting for an even greater exam – that of honesty.
So like Sarratt before me, I wish that you pass them both, but should you fail one, let it never be in honesty.
