Cheating Is Not Worth The Consequences

It was freshmen year in Mrs. Orozco’s English 1 Pre AP-class I knew it was going to be a bad year when I began to struggle with every essay we were to write. So, until the 9-weeks final essay I had done okay but was not doing great like I wanted to. I had an 85 in the class and was not satisfied with my grade so for the 9-weeks final essay I decided to copy off my friend Mark who had a 95 in Mrs. Orozco’s class. Then when I turned it in and she graded it, she noticed that I had copied Mark’s paper and called me up too her table and told me that she was going to give me a 50 even though she knew that she should’ve given me a 0. So, I finished the class with a 70 barely passing and my parents were very disappointed. That lesson taught me that cheating is the easier way but it’s not worth the risk of getting caught, from that day on I stopped cheating.

Starting freshmen year, I knew I wasn’t the best at English, but I also knew I wasn’t the worst. However, I was one of those kids that when I knew there was an essay due I dreaded it. I hated essays couldn’t bear them, they were like hell for me not because I didn’t understand it, but because I never gave all my effort while writing essay. So, the class was great, the teacher was great, the classmates were great, but I was the problem with the class. I never tried all I ever did that year was cheat in that class because I was never caught by any of my teachers, so I didn’t think anything of it. Little did I know the consequences would cause me to almost fail the class, I got a 70 which is barely passing. At the time however, I did not know that the consequences would catch up to me one day. It wasn’t just me that cheated though it was everyone, everyone in my class cheated but, it good to say that it doesn’t matter who does it and who doesn’t because in the end if you’re the one that gets caught you will suffer the consequences not your classmates and friends but, only you will suffer the consequences.

So, the year started, and we began to receive assignments for English and they were easy and didn’t require much effort so at this point I had a 95 in the class and was excited to be doing good in English. It almost seemed to easy I thought it was a joke then it happened, we got our first essay assignment, and I was so scared, I knew this was going to be the end of my good English grade. So, she gave the essay prompt and told us to write a rough draft in class and I sat there for literally 30 minutes reading the prompt and trying to understand the prompt, but I came up with nothing, so Mrs. Orozco said if you need more time you could take it home to finish it. So, when I got home I sat down for 30 minutes and just threw something random together it wasn’t that good, but it was due the next day and I was desperate to finish and just have something to turn in. So, we turned it in and as expected I got my paper back and got a 70 on my paper so my grade was now a 90. I was so disappointed but, I knew the only person to blame for this grade was me because of my lack of effort. I showed my parents and they asked why I got a 70 and I told them I didn’t know what I was doing but they didn’t believe that was the reason and it wasn’t. Then we had another couple of easy assignments and brought my grade up to a 91 because they were only worth 20% of my grade. Then it happened again she gave another 2 essay prompts and I literally wanted to just quit school at that point I became depressed because of these essays and my anxiety towards them. So once again like the first essay Mrs. Orozco gave us the prompts in class and like the first I sat there and couldn’t figure it out and took it home. Then when I got home for both essays all I did like the first was throw something random together.

Once again, I wasn’t happy with it but, I needed something to turn in for the grade. Then she graded the essays and gave them back to us and I got an 80 on one and a 70 on the other I was once again so disappointed in myself but alas had no one to blame but myself. I got angry and started to cry from anger and disappointment. Then again, I showed my parents and they were disappointed and said what’s wrong, and I told them again I didn’t get it, and they said no you didn’t try. Then I began to cry and told them they were right and that I wasn’t trying and in response they said they knew I could do it. Then our 9-weeks essay was coming up and I knew I needed to do good on it to get the grade I wanted. So, I came with the plan to cheat and use my friend Mark’s essay and say it was mine but change it up a bit. So, like any friend he let me copy without even thinking anything of it and I copied it and turned it in. When Mrs. Orozco graded them and returned them to us she called me up and told me I received a 50 for cheating even though she knew I deserved a 0. I said I was very sorry, and that it wouldn’t happen again, and that she was very generous for giving me a 50, then she told me she also told my parents, and I was terrified going home that day.

As soon as I got home it was just all yelling about how I could do this and what was I thinking. I was so nervous and scared all I could say was “I’m sorry” over and over. So, they grounded me for 3 months from electronics and hanging out with friends and I finished the class with a 70. These punishments I was given for cheating was something I never wanted to go through and never want to go through again. Cheating on my essay to get a good grade was not worth barely passing the class and getting grounded for 3 months from friends and electronics. However, this showed me that I didn’t need to cheat to be happy and get good grades. I needed to do what I could with what I had and take my grade and be happy because even if it was a bad grade, it was my grade and nobody else’s.

So, the lesson learned from this is that you don’t cheat to get a good grades because even if you don’t get caught do you feel smart knowing that it wasn’t your work, wouldn’t you feel better knowing you got an 85 and did it by yourself than getting a 100 and knowing that you cheated and didn’t deserve it. The significance is that you shouldn’t cheat even if it means you will not get the good grade you wanted, because at the end of the day it’s your grade and you have to learn to deal with it.