If I were ever looking at a résumé and saw that someone had a Business Degree from EWU — an accredited business school — all the negative observations I have made in my time here would echo in my mind.

I have come across countless individuals in the business program who are willing to cheat. They are more than ready to give answers, e-mail me old case studies and papers, or tell me all the answers are online.

One story in particular involved a student using a tablet to find answers on a test. “He sat right in front of me and showed every one of his friends the answers he was finding. All this happened without the teacher even knowing,” senior Kyle Sauve said. There are so many stories of dishonest work helping someone get a decent grade in a class.

Students beg to get as much information out of professors to the point where they can practically write the test questions themselves. Students beg to push due dates, drop bad grades and use full notes on tests. They pursue easy-grading professors who let work slide. “Many peers have said to me that they are in this program because they heard it was easy. And in all honesty, it is if you take the right teachers,” Sauve said.

Students work in groups all the time, but still struggle with cohesion. I’ve experienced the same problems in groups stemming from communication, ability and reliability throughout my four years.

“The reason [EWU] students don’t work well with others isn’t because we don’t have enough silly group projects, because we have plenty. Students don’t work well with others because of the classroom environment,” senior Cody Bafus said. Students struggle handling conflict in a group. When conflict is settled, it rarely leads to a productive end.

Peer reviews are a joke. There are so many full points given out with the thought, “I’m just glad to be done with it.”

There are always presentations in business classes that coincide with these group projects, and they all have the same thing in common: they are painful to watch. This is evident whether the class is Management Information Systems or Senior Capstone.

We are in such a rush to get through an assignment, group project, class period or exam. For what? How many times have you heard “I didn’t learn anything in his class,” or “That class was a joke.” It makes important discussions pointless and key concepts forgotten.

I have a 3.5 GPA and am a double major graduating at the end of this quarter. When I look around I am embarrassed by what I see and hear and am not as proud of my accomplishment as I imagined I would be. Not because I am some prophet of observation, but because I am no exception.