" I was THAT kid"

Everyone is different and unique in their own way. Although, in school there is usually something that I think every class has.There are a few of those who make straight "A's" and in early grade levels considered, "the nerds". I was that kid. I loved to have fun with my friends, but when it came to class work, the "A" at the top of my paper was all I wanted to see. When I look back on it now, I still don't understand why I pushed myself so hard. I don't know why I really cared. I am one of 14 kids in my family. My parents never checked my homework, school work, or report card. I can't blame them, they did not really understand any of it. I just kept pushing myself to make good grades because I wanted to. I guess I set that goal for myself because I wanted to achieve something. In class, I was the one kids wanted to sit down next to during a test. I got cheated off of a lot during school.

A part of me kept allowing it because I really cared about my friends. I wanted to help them out if they didn't understand something. After awhile, the teachers talked more about cheating. They let us know that it was wrong for someone to do all the work and have someone else take credit for it. I stopped allowing people to cheat off me in class.

 Although,  I fell back into that scenario last semester in college. A classmate asked me for help in math and I agreed to help. When she came over and just copied everything exactly I knew what was happening. I wasn't going to allow myself to fall back into that situation again.

I think cheating is so wrong. There are consequences that follow. There is not always going to be someone there to cheat off of. Sooner or later that person is going to have to do the work themselves. It will make it so much harder when the situation arises.

It really isn't worth all the stress that will come after.
I'm not saying that I don't make mistakes. I have made many mistakes in my life that I am not too happy about. When it comes to plagiarism, I would never intentionally do it. If I have ever done it in the past, I am unaware of it.

Just like cheating, I don't think its fair at all to take credit for someones work. I do admit that I am not the greatest with citing. I try very hard to cite quotes or any other work that I may use in my paper. It may not be the correct way to cite something, but I really try. I will at least put the page number and authors name in quotations at the end of the sentence. I understand how hard people work to write papers, books, articles, etc. I would never try to take the credit they deserve for their hard work. I think a huge consequence to plagiarizing is if your told to retell something from what you stole, without looking, you are in deep trouble. I would be so embarrassed if that ever happened to me. Not to mention being kicked out of school for it would be absolutely heart-breaking.