A week of tears

In my sophomore year of high school I took  American Government and Politics AP. As a total science person this class was something I just took to learn. I actually enjoy the class- it was with a small group of my friends and whenever we finished our classwork early we watched The O.C. Even the guys in my class watched! I enjoyed this class until after we took our midterm. The exam was 70 multiple choice questions and after I finished I joined the rest of my classmates who were setting up a card game.

Two days later in the middle of my English class my American Gov teacher pulled me out of class and told me that he knew that I had cheated on the midterm.

His reasons:

1) He hands out the answer keys every year- and because I had older friends I clearly had gotten my hands on them

2) I was HAPPY when I finished the exam.

3) I got questions right that he had not covered in class.

4) My grade on the exam was a C

This was 5 years ago and can still feel the tears as I type this out.

I had to go to a meeting with my guidance counselor who told me that there was nothing I could do to prove that I was innocent. The teacher had been working here for years and no one would believe me.

This was the first time something like this had happened to me. There was no way I had cheated on the exam and I could not even even prove it. It was his word against mine.

I even had my parents come in for a meeting- they were told the same thing. I should not make a big deal about this, otherwise my teacher would write a letter to my future college telling them about my academic mis conduct.

(Looking back I can see that they just told me this to make me go away)

I had the option of dropping the class- with a grade of an F or staying in the class and get a final grade of a C no matter how well I did on any other assignment.

I stayed in the class. My teacher did not even look at me. I would raise my hand to go to the bathroom and I was ignored. I left the class in tears everyday.

This was a big deal to me- I was well liked by everyone and to have someone especially a teacher treat me this way was awful.

I no longer wanted to go to school and my parents understood and let me stay home until I felt better about going.

The only person who I could talk to was my English teacher and she believed me- even after I graduated high school I would still e-mail her for advice. Sadly she lost her battle with Colon cancer last spring- I sometimes wish I could e-mail her for advice. I really do miss her.

5 years later: I wish I could have said something. Even now I still find it difficult to stand up for myself when I am in a situation where I am not treated the way I want to be.

I need to remid myself that I do have a voice and that I can use it!

I need to end this post this is a major tear subject for me.

I hope everyone is having a lovely Valentine’s day!

Thanks to everyone for their lovely comments on my last post ❤