Leslie Apseloff

Writing is an easy way for me to express myself. In my first class in high school, my teacher assigned a writing prompt, but I could not connect with any of the topics. I turned in an essay that was easily some of my worst work. Our second assignment was a creative writing piece. I poured my heart into that paper, and turned it in, proud of the work that I had done. After grading all of the essays, my teacher pulled me aside and asked where I’d plagiarized it from. She said that the writing levels between my first and second essays were so different that I couldn't have written the second one myself, and she had even searched the internet on all of the plagiarism sites to find my paper but could not locate it anywhere. I was stunned, and from that moment on, I wrote all of my papers on the second one’s level. I proved to her that my work was my own, and no matter how much doubt a teacher or professor may have, I will write to the best of my abilities and prove that my work can improve. I will continue to learn, but I will always remember the lack of trust in that moment. It has scarred me, and I will forever question her values the way she questioned mine.