Last week I had a major research/case study paper due. The class was Public Relations Theory and what we had to do was find a PR practitioner who could give us a PR problem he or she was having and we had to apply two of our theories to said problem to solve it. I chose my aunt who has a Masters in Communications and 10 years experience. She gave me the Nestle Nutrition Institute who provides feeding solutions to hospitals for a variety of patients. I won't go into the details of the problem because that's not what my post is about. Well, after I got my problem I went to my parent's house, two hours away, so that my mom could help me write my paper. I had never done a research paper and I needed help. I drove down after class last Tuesday, worked on the paper. I came home Wednesday morning so I could take a test in one of my classes, finished the test and went back to SC, worked on the paper that night. I came home early Thursday morning to attend class and turn my paper in that afternoon. I turned in the paper and breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Fast forward to yesterday, Tuesday, morning. I checked my email and I had a message from my PR Theory professor. She told me she needed to see my about my paper as soon as possible. I went to her office and learned that part of my paper is considered plagiarized. The paper needed to have information about the organization, Nestle. I found exactly what I wanted in my paper on the website and copied and pasted it into my document. Without thinking, I failed to cite the source. I wasn't trying to pass the information from the website off as my own work; I simply failed to cite my source. My professor understands that I didn't do this intentionally and she is not going to report me to the Dean. However, my paper fails which means that in order to pass this class, a class with only three grades, I need to make at least a 91 on the final exam.
Mostly, I'm just embarrassed that I made this mistake. I am better than this. I don't plagiarize- I do my own work! It's infuriating to think that a lack of two of these " can ruin my whole semester where this class is concerned. This means I might have to take this class again. That means I wasted this whole semester in this class and have nothing to show for it but plagiarized work. This means I probably won't graduate when planned. It's frustrating and embarrassing and infuriating.
I think I'm ok with it. My parents and my aunt were more up-in-arms about it than I was. I mean, I understand that I made a mistake and with every mistake there is a consequence. I don't even know that I disagree that the punishment fits the crime. Honestly, I think I just chock it up to "that's life." Life isn't fair. Sometimes, life flat-out sucks and this is one of those times. Now I have to suck it up and study my butt off to make an A on this test. I'm frustrated, but that's the choice I have. If I want to succeed, I know what I have to do.
Fast forward to yesterday, Tuesday, morning. I checked my email and I had a message from my PR Theory professor. She told me she needed to see my about my paper as soon as possible. I went to her office and learned that part of my paper is considered plagiarized. The paper needed to have information about the organization, Nestle. I found exactly what I wanted in my paper on the website and copied and pasted it into my document. Without thinking, I failed to cite the source. I wasn't trying to pass the information from the website off as my own work; I simply failed to cite my source. My professor understands that I didn't do this intentionally and she is not going to report me to the Dean. However, my paper fails which means that in order to pass this class, a class with only three grades, I need to make at least a 91 on the final exam.
Mostly, I'm just embarrassed that I made this mistake. I am better than this. I don't plagiarize- I do my own work! It's infuriating to think that a lack of two of these " can ruin my whole semester where this class is concerned. This means I might have to take this class again. That means I wasted this whole semester in this class and have nothing to show for it but plagiarized work. This means I probably won't graduate when planned. It's frustrating and embarrassing and infuriating.
I think I'm ok with it. My parents and my aunt were more up-in-arms about it than I was. I mean, I understand that I made a mistake and with every mistake there is a consequence. I don't even know that I disagree that the punishment fits the crime. Honestly, I think I just chock it up to "that's life." Life isn't fair. Sometimes, life flat-out sucks and this is one of those times. Now I have to suck it up and study my butt off to make an A on this test. I'm frustrated, but that's the choice I have. If I want to succeed, I know what I have to do.
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