Ethics Scholarship Essay Essay

One ethical issue to which I became aware of while in college mainly involved cases illegal drugs, bribery, and cheating. Although there is an existing law against illegal drugs and most schools and universities are very stringent in imposing penalties for illegal activities and other things that are criminal in nature, sadly there are still some students who find ways to break those rules, especially outside the campus. While I am not the one involved in these illegal activities, I felt that I had a moral obligation because two of my classmates were involved. These classmates of mine were actually good people, but unfortunately, they ended up with the wrong company. It took place not very long ago, during a house party held by one of the rich students in the university. This certain student, whom I personally know, constantly held parties in his/her lavish house. My two classmates were not invited because the host of the party didn’t like their introvert nature. They were very shy, had very little friends, and were only interested in playing video games and the like. Nevertheless, as I have mentioned above, they were people who possessed values. The problem is they just lacked social skills. One day in class, I noticed that they were talking to a guy who was a notorious rule breaker in the university and was one of the friend of the rich person mentioned earlier. Later, I found out that they were invited to one of the parties held by the rich person and they were both very excited to go as it was their first time to have the change to mingle with a lot of people. On the night of the party, I was to see them talking to a couple of girls and boys. Although I do not wish to judge them, I was a bit confused because, as mentioned above, they were very shy and were not the type of people who would approach someone for a casual conversation. I felt happy for my two classmates but I noticed that certain things about them started to change in the succeeding months. There were instances that they were absent from class, which was something they never did, and there were also times that they were asleep during a lecture or an exam. After some time, I spoke with one of the two and found out that the reason behind their unusual behavior was because of illegal drugs. This person further revealed that they were invited to the rich student’s party on the condition that they would do the assignments of a group of people who were close to of him/her (rich student). This classmate of mine also told me that they were doing drugs because it was considered â€Å"cool† among their new circle of friends. However, the main problem was that both these classmates of mine were nearly failing a lot of their subjects due to their absences and neglect. Because I was concerned for them, I sought the help of fellow students who were also concerned and together we notified the university officials on condition of anonymity. Although it was the right thing to do, I had an ethical dilemma because as a result of my actions, my two classmates were indefinitely suspended from school and were taken to a rehabilitation facility. I was very bothered at first because in a way, I cost them a lot by revealing their secret illegal activities. But after several months, I realized that it was the only thing to do because I didn’t want their future to be ruined by drugs. Basically, this event has impacted me in such a way that I carefully choose whom I associate with. Although I have a lot of friends, I only trust people whom I am sure would not give in to negative influences and to peer-pressure from the wrong ground. It also made me more vigilant and more careful of people who are trying to be nice to me but actually have ulterior motives. On the business perspective, it made me more cautious in dealing with alleged â€Å"easy money† gimmicks and deals which are perpetrated by people who have questionable backgrounds. In short, it made me wiser and clever in terms of business dealings because now I am more aware of the capabilities of certain people who only claim to offer good deals but in truth, do not offer anything of value at all.