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Name
Institution
Course
Tutor
Date
Narrative Discovery Essay
We have been friends with Keith since we were kids, and our families have always been
close since our mothers studied in the same college. Unfortunately, Keith has always found a
way of putting me in an ethical dilemma. Keith has gone out with Jennifer for more than a year
now, and the three of us have been great friends for quite a long time. As a matter of fact, I
introduced Jenifer to Keith; little did I know then that they would start dating. In fact, they
informed me about their relationship after three months of dating. Keith has been having an on
and off relationship with her ex-girlfriend Nicole for some time now. However, all that Jenifer
knows is that Nicole is a forgotten element when it comes to her relationship with Keith. Keith
has never gotten over Nicole and from what I understand, neither has Nicole. They keep
breaking up and making up regularly. In other words, none of them has the will of letting the
relationship come to a conclusive end.
Jenifer completely trusts me and often consults me on many issues. Last week she called
me and informed me that she wanted us to discuss Keith. In her opinion, she pointed that she had
a deep love for him, thus needed a piece of advice from me regarding the feasibility of their
relationship. The request caught me off-guard because Keith is my childhood friend who I would
not have wished to betray him. Similarly, Jenifer is a sweet girl who completely trusts me. If the
offer had come before they had started it off, it would have been easier for me. Unfortunately,

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they only informed me about their relationship after they had dated for more than three months. I
have faced a similar challenging situation in the past, and it did not turn out well for me. Keith
had been in a relationship with my first cousin who did not know about Keiths relationship with
Nicole. With time, she came to know about it and was hurt deeply. My first cousin not only
broke up with him, but also felt betrayed by me. Her side of the argument was that she expected
that I would have informed her about it. Therefore, it took me some considerable amount of time
to regain her trust and repair our broken relationship.
My college life has instilled several problem-solving skills in me. One of them is the
heuristic method of problem-solving or what is referred to as the rule of the thumb. According to
this method, when one faces a scenario that has a resemblance to past events, a decision can be
made empirically by building on the outcomes of the previous events (Baron 285). Considering I
already confronted similar cases before, I am thinking of relying on the consequences of the
decision that I made before. In the case of Keith and my cousin, I decided not to do anything
with the hope that the situation would solve itself by the two breaking up without the
involvement of Jenifer or me. Unfortunately, things failed to work out the way I expected and
my non-interference policy backfired in totality.
In the current case of Keith and Jenifer, non-interference will certainly not work as was
proved in the previous situation. I only have two options where I have to choose allegiance to
Keith my childhood friend or Jenifer, who is quite friendly and has developed immense trust in
me. Either of these options has ramifications on the relationship that the three of us have.
Sticking with Keith by covering for him will re-ignite the guilt that I had during my cousins
debacle. It will also mean that I will be betraying the trust of someone who holds me in utmost
esteem and value. The situation also shows the potential for creating problems in the future,

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especially when Jenifer knows about Keiths relationship with Nicole. Such a discovery has a
high likelihood of ruining my relationship with her.
The second option entails informing Jenifer the truth about Keiths on-off relationship
with Nicole. Whereas the first option will only affect the relationship between Jenifer and me,
the second option has the potential of destroying my relationship with both of them. Keith will
feel betrayed if I tell Jenifer the truth. On the other hand, Jenifer may not take it lightly that I
have hidden the truth from her all this time only revealing the information upon her inquiry. She
might feel that if she had not asked about the issue, then I would have kept concealed the truth
from her.
The current situation has taught me that I value peoples friendship, and I fear to change
the status quo or taking risks, even when those risks have long-term paybacks. I value my
relationship with Keith. Despite his weaknesses, am unwilling to compromise on our lengthy
bond. I fear to poke my nose into the affairs of other people; thus I am slow to intervene even
when doing so will be the right thing to do. Just as my college career has taught me about the
means of attaining solutions, it has also taught me about ethics and doing the right thing even
when the easier option is the opposite. The ethically sound way of resolving the current dilemma
is exercising honesty with myself and my friends.

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Works Cited
Baron, Jonathan. Thinking and deciding. Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print.