Should I tell the truth?

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Hi,

I have a problem and I am in somewhat of a sticky situation. Basically I have an exam in January at university and it is the most frustrating and awful subject ever, I do all the required work and reading but yet it is still hard. Other people on my course have no idea what is going on and although I do know some knowledge I don't think in the exam I would do fantastically the exam is worth 100% of my grade.

Basically myself and three others went to see our lecturer for a tutorial and he showed us the exam paper we would be getting in January, all of the questions an he even went through how to answer them and what to put. (snip)

I wonder if this wasn't the real test?

How many other students have gone to him willing/able to ask for help?

I have no idea what the subject is, but if it is especially difficult the point of the 'test' may not be the test itself but the willingness of the student to seek out answers/help.

I had a lecturer that poised a particularly difficult 'ethical' question - one that doesn't have a 'real' answer and demanded an answer from us. The test was not the question, but how we sought the answer to the test.

He was not testing us on our ability to answer the unanswerable, he was testing our resolve and our willingness to admit we do not know everything, he was seeing how far we were willing to go to admit our ego(s) wasn't large enough to handle the question. No matter how we answered, being no 'right' answer, those of us who got the passing grade were those of us who came to him outside of class hours and admitted we needed 'help'.

It was a test of character, not a test of intellect. Perhaps this lecturer is testing your character?