BYU Honor Code

Senior year in high school, when everyone would talk about the college they were going to, it was pretty obvious to most people that I would be going to BYU. So we would talk about our schools and how excited everyone was for the next year, and somehow, the topic came up that BYU has a dress code. I had never really thought much of it, but all of my non-member friends were shocked. I kind of blew it off and the conversation continued. I had never really thought about the honor code system here at BYU until recently. Not related to dress code, but the fact that we have an honor code and everyone lives by it really well was a bit of a shock for me. Coming from a high school in California in the Bay Area, a lot of people don't have the same honor and principles as I have seen here at BYU. There are so many assignments that we have turned in for a significant amount of points that have been completely based on the honor system. For example, in Writing 150, we had to write in a journal, or on a blog, or something similar every day for the entire semester. At the end of the year, we didn't turn in our journals or blogs, instead we turned in a paper with marks on the days we wrote. Anyone could have marked every day and gotten 100% for no actual work and the teacher would never have known. Yet, from what I could tell, no one in the class lied about the time they spent on their writing. People were willing to take the lower grade rather than compromise their honor. At my high school, that NEVER would have happened. The grades would have been fudged a bit to give the student a better score. It's such a pleasant surprise!
So now, my syllabus for my Book of Mormon class said that our final would be on Monday. I would have all my finals done by Wednesday so we booked my flight home for Thursday. Then, last week, our professor tells us the test had been moved to Thursday from 11-1. Are you kidding me? What am I supposed to do now? So I emailed the teacher and told him my situation. Relying on the honor code, he replied telling me that he would leave a test with his secretary and I could come and take it any time during the week as long as I didn't tell anyone else in the class what they should study. YES! So I can still fly home Thursday because the teachers trust their students. This all comes back to the honor code here at BYU.
Living by standards brings way more blessings to my life than doing whatever I want. I have more freedom because I am trusted and can choose to do what I want with my life rather than be bound by some mistake or the stereotypes of others around me. The honor code is sometimes an annoying thing to follow but like any rule set in place, it helps us to be more successful and make better choices. I am grateful that BYU has the honor code so I can live my life around people with my standards and be blessed for it.