A rant of sorts
I go to a community college.
It is for some just a slight step from high school (but not really) so they think they can get away with little things that maybe a high school teacher would just give you a hard talking to. In college it's a different story all of the syllabi (at least the ones I get) mention plagiarism or cheating or copying something or at least mention where you can look for those rules. Those are very, how can I say, serious offenses or can get you into some serious trouble. Dropped from the class, going to see the dean or the principal (what ever colleges have), getting marked that said thing was done even though you read the rules and got the warnings. So I don't see why someone would do it.
I know the repercussions and am to scared to do any such thing as well as know that cheating in class will just cheat me along later in life, so in point there is no reason do to such a thing.
I had cheated once, back in middle school, or should I say I helped someone cheat, as in they didn't know the answer but I did because it was a math class and I'm excellent in math. Yes I got caught red handed by the teacher, he called home left a message, I could have come home and deleted said message instead I waited for my mom to come home and told her what I had done before she heard the message. I guess it was a week or so later she had a talk with my teacher that I didn't really want to be involved in, but was asked to be present. I did get in trouble at both my house and at school for doing such a thing. I was naive and thought that I was helping a friend/classmate instead of letting them show the teacher what they know and what they didn't. After that I felt terrible, cried when I was caught trying to help, when I was punished at home, when the professor was having that conference with my mom. I understood after that moment that if someone asked for help on a test or a clue or what ever the answer was NO. I had learned my lesson and was never going to do that again. I mean really I was cheating that person out of learning and I guess helping them with a grade they didn't deserve.
Here we come today. I am on course and hopefully getting enough credits and taking the right classes to be done at the community college level and get my associates degree by the end of May. I am working hard and know what classes I need to take, in the beginning years I dropped a few because it seemed a little overwhelming or because the teacher wasn't easily contactable when I was having a family emergency and needed to tell him what was going on. I can't drop any classes now, I can't afford to do that if I want to finish up in May.
I don't know how. I don't know why. But in the first test in my history class someone decided to cheat off of me, putting my standing in the class at risk. This test no one passed really. I think we all did the dumb thing and skipped over the glossary in the front of the chapter which actually was part of what was on the test (which explained why we failed). I saw the test, realized I only knew a few answers because I had skipped over that part and hadn't really paid attention, as well I had read the chapter the test was on three weeks before the test and didn't review it a few days before. That was my mistake. But like I said I knew I wasn't gong to pass, I had a few answers and that was about it. I didn't think of cheating I just decided to make some wild guesses and hope that somewhere inside my head I knew those answers. Apparently so was the person sitting next to me or behind me or slightly to the side of me (I'm not sure where she was sitting and the rows aren't completely straight). She was hoping I knew the answers and that I studied a little more then she did, well her guess was as good as mine really, I guess I look like someone who studies where as I guess she doesn't. The thing was, she copied a lot off of me. I didn't realize she was doing it or I would have hidden my answers a little better, I wasn't allowing her to look intentionally, but I guess her eyes just seemed to wonder onto my paper, and my answers magically became hers.
Like I said before, everyone in the class didn't pass the test. We all were making those guesses and had a bunch wrong. The thing was is that every answer I had wrong she did too, the exact same answer, and someones name I had accidentally spelled wrong not thinking correctly, and she spelled it wrong too. I think that was part of what had hinted my teacher as to someone cheating. He had said that he had seen some misspellings before, but none as to what I wrote, and the fact that both of us had that bad spelling made him think something fishy was going on.
He gave us back our tests today, which is why this is all fresh in my mind, there were notes on some. It was a United States history test on the Watergate scandal and president Nixon, yet someone had put Harrison Ford down for a couple answers. What? Isn't Harrison Ford from the Indiana Jones movies. Yeah, my teacher was a little mad at that. There were other marks on people's tests similar to that. Mine had the note at the bottom, "Cheating! See me." of course I was shocked. I hadn't cheated off of someone and I knew that, but what I had come to learn was that someone was cheating off of me.
He said that it was a serious offense letting someone cheat or cheating off of someone else. He said that its nice to share with friends, just not on a test. Sorry to tell him, but she was no friend of mine the day of the test, a week before, and as of this moment she is more of an enemy if anything. I wasn't trying to help her, I didn't even know her, I didn't even talk to her, I don't even know her name, so why on earth would I help her. I wouldn't! Of course said other person who had cheated had left class early and so at the end he was only talking to me. He said because there was no way of proving who cheated (although I'm sure there is, it would just be a long process) he couldn't kick either of us out of the class. He said that if I was serious about learning that it was okay to stay, and he did say that he would be watching both of us on the next test to see if we were serious about this and to figure out which one of us cheated.
I could have tried to make an argument with him trying to prove that I didn't cheat, but thinking about it now, I don't think it would have helped my cause. I could have told him that I knew that I was going to fail, and that I wouldn't help someone cheat if I knew I would fail, but that might just show him that if I did know the answers that I would help someone cheat. NO, I wouldn't. I learned my lesson. I don't cheat, I don't help others cheat, and this really got me upset. I really hadn't done anything wrong, I was just the innocent one, but was getting all of the blame it seemed.
Yes professor I know cheating is a serious offense, that is why I don't do it. I was furious, and really still am. Maybe she thought she could get away with it because a community college isn't as strict as a college, but there are consequences. Mine was almost getting kicked out and dropped from the class because of her stupidity, which would have meant I wasn't going to be done by May. If that had happened I would have been so mad.
Next time, on the test I'll move, or give little miss cheater the wrong answers so she fails again. I don't understand really, if you don't know the material why come to class and try and take a test, if you aren't going to use your brain, get out of the class. I guess some people think they can get away with using others to get by in life, but guess what that's going to come and bite them in the butt in the future.
It is for some just a slight step from high school (but not really) so they think they can get away with little things that maybe a high school teacher would just give you a hard talking to. In college it's a different story all of the syllabi (at least the ones I get) mention plagiarism or cheating or copying something or at least mention where you can look for those rules. Those are very, how can I say, serious offenses or can get you into some serious trouble. Dropped from the class, going to see the dean or the principal (what ever colleges have), getting marked that said thing was done even though you read the rules and got the warnings. So I don't see why someone would do it.
I know the repercussions and am to scared to do any such thing as well as know that cheating in class will just cheat me along later in life, so in point there is no reason do to such a thing.
I had cheated once, back in middle school, or should I say I helped someone cheat, as in they didn't know the answer but I did because it was a math class and I'm excellent in math. Yes I got caught red handed by the teacher, he called home left a message, I could have come home and deleted said message instead I waited for my mom to come home and told her what I had done before she heard the message. I guess it was a week or so later she had a talk with my teacher that I didn't really want to be involved in, but was asked to be present. I did get in trouble at both my house and at school for doing such a thing. I was naive and thought that I was helping a friend/classmate instead of letting them show the teacher what they know and what they didn't. After that I felt terrible, cried when I was caught trying to help, when I was punished at home, when the professor was having that conference with my mom. I understood after that moment that if someone asked for help on a test or a clue or what ever the answer was NO. I had learned my lesson and was never going to do that again. I mean really I was cheating that person out of learning and I guess helping them with a grade they didn't deserve.
Here we come today. I am on course and hopefully getting enough credits and taking the right classes to be done at the community college level and get my associates degree by the end of May. I am working hard and know what classes I need to take, in the beginning years I dropped a few because it seemed a little overwhelming or because the teacher wasn't easily contactable when I was having a family emergency and needed to tell him what was going on. I can't drop any classes now, I can't afford to do that if I want to finish up in May.
I don't know how. I don't know why. But in the first test in my history class someone decided to cheat off of me, putting my standing in the class at risk. This test no one passed really. I think we all did the dumb thing and skipped over the glossary in the front of the chapter which actually was part of what was on the test (which explained why we failed). I saw the test, realized I only knew a few answers because I had skipped over that part and hadn't really paid attention, as well I had read the chapter the test was on three weeks before the test and didn't review it a few days before. That was my mistake. But like I said I knew I wasn't gong to pass, I had a few answers and that was about it. I didn't think of cheating I just decided to make some wild guesses and hope that somewhere inside my head I knew those answers. Apparently so was the person sitting next to me or behind me or slightly to the side of me (I'm not sure where she was sitting and the rows aren't completely straight). She was hoping I knew the answers and that I studied a little more then she did, well her guess was as good as mine really, I guess I look like someone who studies where as I guess she doesn't. The thing was, she copied a lot off of me. I didn't realize she was doing it or I would have hidden my answers a little better, I wasn't allowing her to look intentionally, but I guess her eyes just seemed to wonder onto my paper, and my answers magically became hers.
Like I said before, everyone in the class didn't pass the test. We all were making those guesses and had a bunch wrong. The thing was is that every answer I had wrong she did too, the exact same answer, and someones name I had accidentally spelled wrong not thinking correctly, and she spelled it wrong too. I think that was part of what had hinted my teacher as to someone cheating. He had said that he had seen some misspellings before, but none as to what I wrote, and the fact that both of us had that bad spelling made him think something fishy was going on.
He gave us back our tests today, which is why this is all fresh in my mind, there were notes on some. It was a United States history test on the Watergate scandal and president Nixon, yet someone had put Harrison Ford down for a couple answers. What? Isn't Harrison Ford from the Indiana Jones movies. Yeah, my teacher was a little mad at that. There were other marks on people's tests similar to that. Mine had the note at the bottom, "Cheating! See me." of course I was shocked. I hadn't cheated off of someone and I knew that, but what I had come to learn was that someone was cheating off of me.
He said that it was a serious offense letting someone cheat or cheating off of someone else. He said that its nice to share with friends, just not on a test. Sorry to tell him, but she was no friend of mine the day of the test, a week before, and as of this moment she is more of an enemy if anything. I wasn't trying to help her, I didn't even know her, I didn't even talk to her, I don't even know her name, so why on earth would I help her. I wouldn't! Of course said other person who had cheated had left class early and so at the end he was only talking to me. He said because there was no way of proving who cheated (although I'm sure there is, it would just be a long process) he couldn't kick either of us out of the class. He said that if I was serious about learning that it was okay to stay, and he did say that he would be watching both of us on the next test to see if we were serious about this and to figure out which one of us cheated.
I could have tried to make an argument with him trying to prove that I didn't cheat, but thinking about it now, I don't think it would have helped my cause. I could have told him that I knew that I was going to fail, and that I wouldn't help someone cheat if I knew I would fail, but that might just show him that if I did know the answers that I would help someone cheat. NO, I wouldn't. I learned my lesson. I don't cheat, I don't help others cheat, and this really got me upset. I really hadn't done anything wrong, I was just the innocent one, but was getting all of the blame it seemed.
Yes professor I know cheating is a serious offense, that is why I don't do it. I was furious, and really still am. Maybe she thought she could get away with it because a community college isn't as strict as a college, but there are consequences. Mine was almost getting kicked out and dropped from the class because of her stupidity, which would have meant I wasn't going to be done by May. If that had happened I would have been so mad.
Next time, on the test I'll move, or give little miss cheater the wrong answers so she fails again. I don't understand really, if you don't know the material why come to class and try and take a test, if you aren't going to use your brain, get out of the class. I guess some people think they can get away with using others to get by in life, but guess what that's going to come and bite them in the butt in the future.
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