It’s hard to believe that 17-year-old high school student Bettina Campomanes is what she is: a 17-year-old high school student.
Fresh-faced with a quiet demeanor and a soft voice, Bettina can easily strike one as an ordinary teenage girl. And in part, she does say that she is. She enjoys going out with her friends, watching Breaking Bad, and holding onto her mobile phone like a second skin.
But it is when she begins to speak that one becomes arrested by Bettina’s intense yet refreshing maturity. Her candidness is evocative of her idol Woody Allen, but she shares her thoughts so plainly and truthfully with little effort. It is a surprise that public officials aren’t taking notes from this bespectacled teenager.
It is then no surprise that her short film entitled Reluctance was awarded the top prize at the International Baccalaureate Academic Honesty Film Contest, besting 36 other students around the world.
Bettina’s work, which was partly shot in the picturesque Beacon Academy she considers her second home, revolves around a nameless figure who goes through the motions of cheating on an exam. If only to add more gravitas to this young lady’s impressive repertoire, Bettina composed the techno soundtrack in the film under her well-known alter-ego, The Valiant Vermin.
Young STAR sits down with the young auteur and learns more about the benefits of delayed gratification, the difficulties of being academically honest, and the life-altering effects of cheating on a test.
YOUNG STAR: Congratulations on your win! How did you feel when you found out?
BETTINA CAMPOMANES: Thank you! It feels great to know you’ve accomplished something and that people have actually taken notice to my work. (But) winning makes it harder to say to myself that I need more practice. I’d hate to have the win go to my head, which is why I don’t take too much pride in it. I (still) have a long way to go.
What was your inspiration behind the film’s concept?
My goal was to make the audience understand the concept of honesty through a generalized interpretation of cheating. That way people are free to interpret the situation and decide on their own how that may apply to them. In a way, it is a generalized point of view that is given to others for a personalized interpretation.
What do you think drives students to cheat in school?
The first thing that comes to mind is the desire to get the desired grade. But of course, there is a difference between those who cheat and those who don’t, but do nothing about it. I think the consequences for cheating can act as a stepping-stone for those who are in need of a better future. If you cheated, you probably have the desire to do good. The desire to do well is what begins and ends cheating. It is what drives the individual to do better or worse. It all depends on your priorities and what waits for you in the future.
Have you personally encountered any difficulties with being academically honest?
A few years back, I thought of myself as a skilled forger due to the fact I’d often forge my parents’ signature on my test papers. At the time I didn’t know it was wrong. I just thought of it as an easy way out. It was almost an extension of myself in terms of academic survival. I only realized that what I was doing was wrong when people began telling me so. I just hadn’t thought of it like that in the past and yet, when it was pointed out, I did understand why it was so wrong.
What piece of advice would you give a friend who is considering cheating on a test or assignment?
Your life choices will last forever. Cheating is not just a form of dishonesty, but is something that breaks the bond between who you are and who you think you are. Don’t lie to them; don’t lie to yourself. It will just make things harder for you to grasp when you finally realize you aren’t who you think you are.