As enjoyable as senior year is, getting the school work done is almost as painful as getting wisdom teeth pulled. The amount of work, even if considered miniscule, is unbearable. Senioritis hits early and hard in the school year but the last term feels like a track race, when the runner is worried they won’t make it because they can feel their energy draining. At a small public high school in Massachusetts, the end of the school year was so close all the students could taste it, tastes of freedom and something fruity. But, looming over them was a dark cloud in the shape of a paper, but not just any paper; the dreaded English Research Paper.
It was the last hurdle before the finish line in that track race. When the runner is almost out of energy and they do not think that they can make it over. This is when athletes are tempted by illegal helpers; steroids. In a student’s case, the illegal helper is not as such a big deal, or so one thinks. Plagiarism is a very harmful to have on your record and it is easily caught. The consequences vary depending on details of the plagiarism but are all harsh. I was not caught in the act but after learning so much about it I will now vow to never plagiarize again. Here is my story when I turned to the illegal side.
It definitely was not a bright sunny day when the teacher slammed down the assignment on our desks. I tried to pick up the packet, too heavy. The staple, barely keeping its grasp on all the pages winked at me noticing my discomfort at the amount of pages. I attempted to open the first page but quickly dropped it after feeling the sharp pain of a paper cut on my pointer finger. Fine, stay closed I whispered to the paper, and that is exactly what it did, deep inside my binder in the abyss of my backpack. The gruesome details of the assignment had been passed down from the upperclassmen that have already graduated to the next years seniors.
Everyone knew what it consisted of; reading four books by the same author, finding a theme that the author uses in all four books and writing a ten page paper on it. All of the procrastinators backpacks including my own, began to feel heavier as the due date dragged nearer as if everyday that they avoided the giant elephant in their english binder a rock was being placed inside their backpack. Finally, when their shoulders felt as though they would fall off, they came to the conclusion that if their friends survived then that means they can too. At this point all of us procrastinators realized that we didn’t have time to read four books.
I typed in google, good quotes and interpretations for all four books I had picked by my author. The copy and paste button worked but it felt so hot when I was pressing it as if it was filled with hot coals. When I finally typed out the last words of my conclusion I expected my hands to be red with blood, I was surprised to see there wasn’t a scratch. I felt this same pain in my fingertips as I handed the ten pages, stapled neatly together, to my teacher. I must have drawn my hand away too fast and had a look of discomfort on my face because the teacher asked if I was alright.
When I said I was with as much confidence as I could muster, the teacher gave me a knowing look. I had nervous sweats everyday in that class until we received the grades, The grade was not bad but I was more overjoyed with not getting caught for my dirty deed. The emotions that procrastinators go through from the start of a big paper to end is not something they want to go through again but then they always seem to; creatures of habit. From procrastination to plagiarizing, I realize now they go hand in hand. I now know not to start my work early or else I will lead myself down the road of plagiarizing and to my emotional demise.
