Picking this battle?

 I planned on putting up an entry earlier but got swamped with school work and then had to deal with some ridiculous bull shit with school. Forgive my use of an expletive; I am just so angry with how we’re being treated over here. Check this out….

In class on Friday, the instructor announced that a few students in class were guilty of plagiarism and if they wanted to get their points for the assignment, they’d have to read a packet on what plagiarism was and what they’d have to do in order to avoid this situation from happening again.

She then went on to give everyone back their papers. Everyone, well, almost everyone (I was accused of this horrible deed as well) was accused of plagiarism and would have to hand in the essay. At first I was stunned, so I sat in my chair trying to understand what the hell was happening and then I noticed how most of the students had the shocked look on their faces, went on to shrug their shoulders and then walked out of class- accepting their fate. A couple students stayed behind to argue and the teacher was adamant about her position… at some point, I got up and went back to my apartment. I wouldn’t take this lying down, I just needed to get my head together and figure out what my plan of attack would be.

You see, plagiarism is a very big deal especially since I’ve worked in a field where it could cost you so much. Having someone steal your work is a very scary thing- it’s happened to me and it’s no joke, you feel so violated (I know, I sound a bit melodramatic but my creations are like my babies). Now knowing what I know, why would I steal some else’s work and pass it off as my own?? !

When I got home, I ran my case study (the assignment the instructor accused of being plagiarized work) through 3 plagiarism checker sites and it came up as 0% plagiarized work, all three times. I printed the reports and went back to school to meet with my instructor. When I confronted her, she said she didn’t have any real problems with my work, it’s just that I repeated some information that she didn’t feel comfortable with and then pointed them out. I thanked her for showing them to me and then I made my case- tell me what you think of this- the question had asked for me to identify the findings that supported my theory. The findings were a part of the case study she’d given to us. So in my assignment I listed out the data that was given to me to help support my theory. Then I asked how can giving data- a fact- back can be seen as plagiarism? It’s like hearing a meteorologist say,” the temperature for today is 60 degrees”  then someone asks you what the temperature is, you say “it’s 60 degrees” and now you’ve officially plagiarized?

After my argument, she said she understood what I meant and I was right. She then went on to say that there were 2 students in the class who had plagiarized and I wasn’t a part of it but she didn’t want to single them out. She insisted I still go ahead and turn in the plagiarism essay and we can all put this behind us. Before I continue, let me clarify something, I don’t believe my instructor’s an evil malicious person looking to accuse innocent people of academic misconduct but I do believe she is highly misinformed and is trying to catch the culprits in a wrong way. I walked out of her office mad as all hell and then went home to work things out in my head.

Here are my thoughts…. Plagiarism is a big deal and one can get kicked out of school for it, I am so close to achieving my goal and I will not let anyone or anything mess this up for me. Secondly, there’s a rumor going around the community about the black nursing students- the rumor is that we are cheating in school (I’ll give you details on that story later). Most of us are doing really well and I guess the only way we could actually beat the locals would be by cheating. Yes, I know that statement was full of anger but can you really blame me? Again, details will be given later.

Now back to the case at hand, I could just roll over, write the essay, and just take the points- this would make things easier for me and my grades (I am obsessed with making good grades)but I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. I have decided not to write that essay, writing the essay would be an admission of guilt to something I was not a part of.  I am going to file a report of some sort with the school or with ACLU, keep record of everything that happens to me here and just pray that I leave with what I came here for.

I have an exam tomorrow, so I am off to study! Pray for me J