I like to write. When I was in high school I was accused of taking my writings from another person's essay: "Your words, Betty?" jotted in the margin of my much hated term paper, for instance! I am now and always was a free thinker, which wasn't always the wisest thing to reveal during my education years.
That comment insulted me greatly...I didn't particularly like Miss March. She would call on the same brown-nosing intellectuals and leave those of us who had occasional brilliant things to add to the discussion with our hands in the air. And, of course, when we hadn't a clue what she was talking about, we were called on.
So I wrote, since I always had something to say (then and now!) and got accused of plagiarism!
And I wrote that STUPID term paper, and I did it MY way....(Outline? Who needs one?) All the steps we were instructed to do and turn in with the paper I did after it was completed and kept my mouth shut. It was good...I liked it...I got a B... Wrote the damn thing three nights before it was due.
We studied Beowulf....We were supposed to read it. I didn't. I bluffed my way through essay questions from the discussions I had listened to in class. And, just as I suspected, she didn't read the exams of us ordinary girls who found more to be enthusiastic about in boys than that stuff; besides, I didn't understand it!
Intellectual I'm not. I ran around with the "Eggheads" in my class, but couldn't compete. Must have fooled them with my common sense. That I have! They made great friends, and I have some of them to this day, (except for the ones who died!)
They all went to college. Falls Church was a Washington bedroom community. We were all middle class, our parents worked mainly for the government. It was expected and assumed we would go on to higher education, and most of us did. Some went on to do exceptional things with their lives. I, in my own way, did, too.
Blogging further re my plagiarism accusation, I very early on had a lesson in that regard. I had to take Latin. Everyone did. I had a large assignment that I had put off, as was my usual way. My next door neighbor was a sweet, round little boy named Michael, who was a natural Latin Scholar. He offered to translate for me, and, naturally I accepted. Brought the translation to my front door and asked my DAD to give it to me. And he did:
My dad said "Betty, this is WRONG....Don't you ever do something like this again!"........I never ever feared my dad. He was kind, never raised his voice. I was his daughter and always knew how much he loved (and yes, respected me). So, that was all he ever had to say to me....ever!!!
He made it clear that life would be ever-so-much easier if I chose the "right" path, the right thing to do in a circumstance. There were times I thought his honesty to be extreme, but he never wavered.
So, in my house, I did my own homework. I didn't do homework for anyone else, either, you can be sure! A poor grade we would live with: Cheating? Never! Some of my friends did wonderful projects, clearly aided by their parents, and got A's. Me, never! My B or C was always good enough. To this day, I'm not sure what might have been the outcome for me had I been aided by my parents, pushed to achieve. Doesn't matter, though; a clear conscience brings a pleasant night's sleep....
Years later, my dear Charlie and I went to Toys R Us to Christmas shop. We spent $60.00, an enormous amount in the 60's. Loading the car, we had a huge box with a spin-around toy, and Charlie opened it to take it out to save room in the trunk. There were TWO in the box! We had three kids, two of whom would share the toy. Back in to the store he went to return the second one....no hesitation. Didn't surprise me...
So, maybe I'm a bit sensitive about things like this, but I sure wouldn't ever want to hurt my dad like that again!
