today I was minding my own business, sitting in class when I got called down to the office. Now, was I expecting this? Yes. My mom and I scheduled a meeting with my counselor to discuss what we are going to do with my education and how I personally feel about the school (read Massive Rant 10 for more info on what's happened). Instead of being called to my counselors office, I was called to the principals office. I thought it was odd at first but then imagined that maybe he saw I was on the schedule for after school appointments and wanted to talk to me about school as well. I knocked on his door and someone was in there already, so he yelled for me to just stay out there. I stood there for what felt like 10 or so minutes, then eventually a girl I knew from middle school walked out and he called for me to come in. I sat down and he started off by telling me, "So, one of your teachers has referred you here for a reason, right?" Insanely confused, I tell him I don't know what he's talking about. He then goes onto show me that my English teacher filled out a referral sheet because he thought I plagiarized an assignment.
Let me give you the backstory. On the 16th, my class was assigned to read a paper and write 3 or so paragraphs explaining the author's purpose. I was not there for the assignment, so I received it when I came back to class on the 21st. I worked on the assignment all class long, but I couldn't finish it in time so I e-mailed it to myself to finish at home, as other people were doing so as well. I finished the paper at home and tried to submit it online, but Blackboard was down for maintenance. The next day, the 23rd, I came into class and immediately submitted it within the first 10 minutes of class so he could grade it as soon as possible. I waited and waited for the grade to be submitted online, but he never graded it and I've wondered why for the past week. Now I know why.
I didn't get to read the referral note but this is basically why he sent me. Because I submitted the assignment within the first 10 minutes of class, he immediately believed I stole it, even though I was there working on it two days prior. He believes I'm too dumb to write as well as that assignment was, so he jumped to the conclusion that I copied off someone or just completely stole someone's work. One of the main things that drove him to accuse me is the date difference. The top of the paper reads "21 February 2017" when I turned it in on the 23rd. If I were him, I would get the hint that I was there and worked on the paper ON the 21st.
So the principal starts interrogating me and sternly explaining how big of a deal this is. Plagiarism is taken very seriously at my school and all of my credits could be rendered invalid and I would be kicked out of my school if I were to be found guilty, plus I would probably have a criminal sentence. I laughed when he explained what I was in so much trouble for. Being very nervous, I explained the whole thing to the best of my ability, but honestly, most of the details were slipping my mind because of how little of a deal this was to me. After another 10 minutes of explaining, he simply tells me he'll talk with both me and my teacher tomorrow morning to get "the full scoop".
I find this whole thing so loving ridiculous. My teacher could have easily come to me if he found this as an issue, but he didn't. He had to be a stupid cunt and go through the ENTIRE process of filling out papers to receive the referral sheet, filling out the 4 pages of the referral sheet, turning it into the office and having me go down there. He could have quickly sorted this out with me in a matter of minutes, it's like he wants me to get loving kicked out. The thing is, I have no evidence to back the fact up that this is my original work, even though I'm completely right in this situation. There is a small chance that I could actually be found guilty in all of this and get in a load of stuff. I've never plagiarized an assignment before and it offends me that my teacher doesn't think I'm capable of writing the paper he claims is stolen. I'm receiving the same treatment that someone who beat up a kid and broke his face would get, even though I've done NOTHING WRONG. What a joke this all is, forget my school.
