Turning it in as My Own There

¶ … Turning it in as My Own There are several reasons why I copied my friend Stephanie's essay on A Time to Kill by John Grisham and turned it in as my own. First, due to various academic and social commitments, I did not have sufficient time to read John Grisham's A Time to Kill and to complete my own essay on the book.

While I should have utilized better time management skills so that I would have had adequate time to complete this assignment, I did not do so in this case. In order to prevent this situation from happening in the future, I will arrange my academic and social commitments in such a manner so as to enable me to have time to complete all of my assignments by their due date.

Next, I copied my friend's essay because I was afraid that if I asked for an extension to complete the assignment, I would either be disciplined, receive a failing grade, and/or not receive the extension. While I now realize that I should have asked my teacher for more time in order to complete the assignment, at the time I felt as if copying my friend's essay was the only option available.

I realize that giving into such pressure was a moment of weakness that violates all of the ethical, moral, and religious teachings that I have received and believe in. II. WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM THE EXPERIENCE The experience of copying my friend Stephanie's essay on A Time to Kill by John Grisham and handing it in as my own and getting caught for doing so has been an emotional journey filled with many lessons which I will never forget.

First, I have learned that it is never right to copy someone else's work and turn it in as your own, despite whatever other commitments and/or time pressures may exist. Not only does copying someone else's work violate all of the ethical, moral, and religious teachings I have received and believe in, it also deprives me from the experience of fully absorbing and understanding the assigned book.

Likewise, it devalues all of the effort, hard work, and time my friend put into creating her own essay on A Time to Kill. Next, I have learned that it is necessary and wise to effectively manage my time, both in terms of academic and social commitments. Had I effectively planned out my commitments before this assignment was due, I would have been able to read A Time to Kill and write my own original essay on the book.

In the future I will make sufficient allocations of time so that I will be able to complete all of.