BAD GENIUS

(Reflection Paper)

Others would find doing something in a bad way is not that bad if the purpose of it

is to help someone. This concept would get applied for those students whom found cheating

not as a bad thing but they would rather call it – a teamwork. In a Thai film “Bad Genius”,

we could relate to students who found cheating not just a teamwork but also a business and

who see school as a place for complying requirements or standards, not a place for great

learning.

The story was focused to Lynn, a very smart but introverted high school student.

Her father is a teacher who wants a better life for her, however what she has is a broken

family but both her parents wanted the best for her so her dad persuaded her to go to a more

prestigious high school which was against her wishes, her dad transferred her to a school

where Lynn when graduated could go abroad for taking up college. When Lynn and her

dad went to the school headmistress to get enrolled, the headmistress found Lynn as a best

student for their school to be well-known as Lynn’s dad showed her portfolio with awards

of the contests she had competed and mostly were from Mathematics competition but Lynn

found the tuition fee so expensive and why not use her intelligence for she and her dad

would get benefited. The headmistress agreed for Lynn to become their scholar getting the

benefits of free tuition and free meal as what have mentioned.

As Lynn started her ninth grade, there’s this girl classmate of her named Grace, a

beautiful and famous student but not that smart in academics to get passed but so in extra-

curricular, who fixed her hair in the midst of ID picture taking and that was when their

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friendship started. For us, friendship is a family not by blood who get to help each other.

As Grace ranted to Lynn about this failed scores of her worrying about the grades she

would get would make her disqualified to participate in theatre club, at first Lynn didn’t

want to become Grace’s mentor but since she is a friend, she tutored Grace. I think that’s

the best thing of having a friend, you could help each other at the times of dire need, also

indifferences of each one could fill in the gap of what each do not have and I believe that

is how people designed by the Creator, having strengths and weaknesses to integrate and

relate with each other.

But still, despite of tutoring a set of reviewer which is the same with what has given

in the actual exam was not able to get digested in Grace’s mind, so the eagerness of Lynn

to help her friend led them to the most unfavorable and horrible thing to be done in their

school – cheating. As Lynn wrote the answers in an eraser enable for Grace to copy it which

made possible for Grace to get passed grades to be qualified in the casting in theatre. In the

movie, we could see how happy Grace was but I found this part not worth it at all, not so

achievable, because for I believe, you could only enjoy a thing, if all the part of hardship

was been done by yourself unless it is a group task, the success of the team is the success

of all members.

First move was okay but when Grace invited Lynn to the swimming party [a party

done just by the three of them], there’s the offer of Pat, Grace’s rich boyfriend, to employ

Lynn to help them pass the examinations. At first, Lynn was not comfortable with the idea

of it, but in exchange of big income and when Pat told about the ‘tea money’ which was

collected in their school, though Lynn’s family is not that poor but the idea of accepting

payment which was done in their school is just normal. In here, we could insert the lesson

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that faculty in a school should ‘Teach by example’. What the students see from their

teachers seem to be okay to do. I understand that teachers are also humans who could do

things out of their profession, but still as someone whom looked up by the students, things

must done something right for them are set to be examples. Also, this thing is proved by a

bible verse, 1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some

people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many

griefs." At the end the approval of Lynn was be able to get by Pat and Grace.

Cheating still continued as Lynn was able to buy a good shirt for her dad whom his

dad thought of it as Lynn’s income from doing piano lessons. Until Lynn met Bank, also a

scholar in their school and her partner in a Math competition. At the moment of their

examination, Bank saw his classmate who asked him before going to the testing place,

pleasing to allow this student to copy his answers in exchange of 3,000 baht that he had

refused, looking at the test paper of Lynn. He was innocent to think that Lynn was not

aware of it that he told about the thing to Lynn and to their proctor before going out of the

room. We could see in here how great the conscience of Bank to refuse the temptation of

getting money though his family doesn’t have stable income from their small laundry shop.

Going back, that time, thing became unfavorable for Lynn and for her what she called

students, as they have found that the exam has two sets. There the headmistress was able

to found that Lynn let her classmates copy her answers in exchange of money, the

disappointment of the headmistress resulted for the cancellation of the opportunity for

Lynn to get scholarship in college. We could also feel in here the disappointment of her

dad who is also a teacher, not to be able to teach his daughter of the good moral and right

conduct that should be observed in life.

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 Lynn was able to accept her mistake and the exam-cheating business had stopped.

But here’s her friend Grace again, asking for a help. When Grace had met the rich parents

of Pat, being grateful to her for helping their son Pat, getting higher grades than before and

asking Grace to take charge of Pat for them to study abroad but first need to pass the STIC

exam which is given across globe, giving opportunity for all nationalities to study abroad.

Grace knew to herself of her capacity and this is not enough enable for them – couple pass

the STIC exam, that’s why she asked Lynn for help again. Again, at first Lynn was not

comfortable with the idea after being caught of the cheating case, but because ability to

think of way getting through the challenge, she accepted Grace calling for help but this

time, she wanted to take more risk and this time with Bank. It is sad among the youth

nowadays, having this concept of once you made a mistake, continue doing it until you

reach the maximum limit of it. What we could take away here is we should ‘Flee ourselves

from Temptations’, it is the call of getting millions of money that tempted Lynn to enter

this cheating business. This also what happened to Bank, though at first, he has strong

conscience to refuse temptations but what Pat has done, targeted the weak spot of Bank -

to beat him which resulted for him to end up in hospital and was not able to get the

scholarship, and this influenced him to accept Lynn's offer getting a million from the

cheating they will be doing in STIC exam. Seeing that many students had joined this kind

of case only proved that society prioritize more the score they will get rather than the

lessons they will get to learn. When the exam started in Australia, 4 hours before in

Thailand, tasks was became so hard for both Lynn and Bank as the security system was

strictly observed by the supervisors. Bank was the first one to be caught, as Lynn finished

her task very risky and that was to memorize the answer keys and send it to Grace so she’ll

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be able to create the barcode on all pencils which were given to the takers who joined the

cheating business. We could prove in here that some people in exchange of their lives

would do anything for money. This just reminding us to ‘Use our gifts wisely’, for these

gifts are given to us to be used properly and for the good of the world.

When Lynn came back in Thailand, repenting for what she have done which was

not according on their plan because Bank being caught, she confessed everything they did

on her dad, a parent would still a parent even you have done wrong decisions in life, and

they are only the ones who would accept us even in our darkest days because it is the duties

of all parents to ‘Love despite of imperfections’. Still, Lynn’s dad forgave her yet he did

not tolerate the bad thing that has been done by her daughter, what he let her do is to ‘Value

clear conscience’. It is true even we don’t cheat in life, life cheats us anyway, but we

should not let this idea hinders us from doing what is good, there is someone looking from

above who sees what we are doing, who knows what we are thinking, every details of us…

He knows all of those. But still, we are loved by Him. When we have committed a mistake,

He’s not mad at us but on the sins we have done, all He wanted is for us to repent and

‘Change for the better’ and that what Lynn did, she confessed the cheating case they have

done on the STIC exam and use the gift of intelligence given by us for her to become a

teacher, and to make right of the bad thing she have done during high school by leading as

a best example to her future students.

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