The day I was caught cheating

Date:Monday, 15th of November, 2021
Published by: Greatwolfman

We all have our embarrassing moments, this was one of mine. I thought I would leave it buried in the past but there were far too many witnesses to keep it buried. It was my first time cheating and to be honest, I had no other choice. When you hear the story, perhaps you would understand me better.

Before I share the embarrassing experience, perhaps I should also let you know that I cheated a couple of times in high school and was never caught, how you ask? Relax, I'll share my secret with you.

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For the task to be done accurately, we had a good team and cooperation. My friends and I were sorta nerds and we knew we could handle those questions with ease if we ever decide to read that particular subject but since it was only a Trade-subject (Animal Husbandary), we decided to "swing it"

It is not uncommon for the supervisors and invigilators to want to scatter our formation and do somebody search and for that we had a remedy, we didn't need to carry expo into the lab, we would have placed them under the tables in the lab, the one place they would never look. To solve the issue what I would refer to as "Formation-displacement", we had more people involved. After all, who will not want to join a team of professional cheaters, hahaha. We did it for the thrill of it since that was the only fun we coils have as nerds. It was our way of "giving it back to the man".

I'm so glad those days are behind me, I do miss my squad though, being in different colleges, chasing our lives goals, and ambitions have deterred us from our bad ways and taken us a step further into maturity. The price for cheating wasn't really heavy back in high school, and it sure wasn't going to affect our final exams performance since we didn't need the Trade Subject to enter College, it was merely an additional syllabus to ensure as students we learn other skills (it was unclear to us at the time).

Oh! Those were fun times. Now, in College, the penalty of getting caught will end with a minimum punishment of 1 year added to your program. It's not something I will ever want to try as much as I would have loved the thrill 5 years ago.

Note: Cheating is a crime, do not do it

Okay, enough chit chats, let us get right to the embarrassing moment. Try not to laugh.

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Quick Backstory

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I had trouble learning my native tongue, this was simply because it was never spoken at home, and it was against the rules to speak in vernacular back in pre-school. I managed the understand a few but still had trouble speaking, the real issue was interpreting it when in written form.

Imagine my luck when I realized I had no choice but to offer this subject. I felt lost in class and I had trouble writing and understanding my note, partially due to my bad handwriting but largely due to my ignorance and lack of will to learn.

In my defense, I had tried to read that subject a couple of times but it just didn't work. How am I supposed to learn a language I didn't understand? Not so long into the term, it was time for the first Continuous assessment test.

I panicked and brought my note in with me, not that it would be of much help but it was my only chance, I wish I had the idea @Freedom007 had when confronted with a similar situation, I would have just hidden my answer script and not submit.

I managed to bring the book under my table and tried to search for similarities between my question and my note but wasn't getting any. I didn't even understand the question, how was I supposed to figure out the answer?

Out of frustration, I had to turn around and I saw everyone writing really fast, I noticed the invigilator wasn't in class, so I stretched my neck a bit and tried to get some things down but due to my lack of social skills, I had no good friend at the time. These wicked people were covering their notes and then came the teacher's pet.

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"Teacher's pet" are those exceptionally pretentious fellows that always try to show they are good and get the teacher's attention. Yes, I dislike such people, I'm sorry but I won't try to hide it especially after what happened next.

"Aunty, someone is trying to copy my work"

Sighs! It's funny now that I write about it but it wasn't funny that day. A part of me wanted to get up from my chair and give him a big punch to his face. The annoying part was I wasn't even close enough to him to copy him and that was going to be my line of defense if only I had hidden my note in time. I had forgotten I left it open after the effort proved fruitless.

I was called outside and carried out by my short nickers like a criminal. My answer script was torn into pieces, not that it mattered, aside from my name, it was blank.

I was given a couple of strokes and taken to the Vice Principal Academics office. He is late now but he was the only one who tried to see reason from my side. He didn't call my parents, he assumed that role and I explained my difficulty with understanding the language and my wish to be exempted from continuation with the classes but he advised me to give it a chance, he called for my class captain who happened to be fluent and tasked him being my tutor. I became better with time though but how glad I was when a mandate came and it was no longer compulsory.

It was a hard pill to swallow but I should have prepared more, perhaps I could have avoided such a mishap, I did retake the test after so much pleading and preparation. I learned a very important lesson too, even when it seems difficult as long as you have that will and interest to be better, you will find a way.

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