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Post Info TOPIC: Oh no :-(


~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1887
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Oh no :-(


This has been a really intense week. I'm currently doing a full time study load plus 2 extra subjects, and tonight, I had 4 assignments due at midnight, so I've been stuck in a chair typing non stop all week.

Anyway I submitted everything at 10 minutes to midnight (I'm sure that's the title of a book lol) and in my usual style, I didn't bother to check the plagarism scores before final submission because, hey, I never plagarise anything. But, it turns out, I did. An entire paragraph, from a textbook. It was an honest mistake; when I draft assignments I usually copy whatever information I need into one document and then set about researching and writing, but, somehow, I've copied this offending paragraph into the body of my assignment and not noticed that it wasn't my own words. Honestly, this was the last assignment I did and I was jaded and over it and I got careless.

Anyway there was a pretty good chance she wouldn't have noticed because the overall plagarism score was too low to flag me but I decided it wouldn't be worth the risk and emailed her immediately to explain my error and ask for her advice.

With another teacher it might not be the end of the world, especially as I emailed immediately afterwards to point out my own mistake, but this is the one teacher that is an absolute stickler for the rules; I mean she's really..well, you know. Everything has to be absolutely by the book. So without being dramatic or overly projecting, I fully anticipate that her response will be that she has to report me, have me receive an official warning  (you get one chance, I think, but it stays on your record) and I may have to do the assignment over if it doesn't result in an automatic fail. I don't have time for any of that I have 3 more assignments due in the next 13 days, and I haven't started any of them. I'm 4 weeks behind in online lectures (I'm doing 3 online subjects as well as the on campus ones), then I have 3 exams and 4 more assignments 2 weeks after that!!!!!!!

Tomorrow (Or today, I guess), I am meant to go to the dentist to have a tooth pulled (the second one in 2 weeks) and instead I'm up at 4am wringing my hands and freaking out.

I feel like one stupid mistake has plunged me into the abyss; I was just hanging on before and at least happy that I was getting rid of this round of assignments and ready to start fresh (well, puffy faced and drooling) after returning from the dentist tomorrow. 

Just gah. Gah I tell you. Oh, and the lawns are waist high, (I don't have any way to attend to them until I have the spare cash to have someone do them; if I bought a mower they'd be too long for it anyway), every bill and expense under the sun seems to have suddenly become overdue, and, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daughter has all kinds of things going on that require my attention and she's annoyed that I am always staring at the computer and "uh-huh"ing her. 

You know, sometimes I feel resentful that I have so much on my plate and it's all my responsibility, every single bit of it. Other people seem to have help, partners or even ex partners that help and share the load at least with their offspring etc. I do value my autonomy but wow, when, WHEN will there be an opportunity to enjoy it? My idea of a good time these days is 5 minutes in the sun reading a book. Which you know, I should make myself do every day no matter what. I'm putting that on my "to do" list. Somehow, no matter what, 5 minutes of "fun" reading every day. Actually, let's make it 15.

And then there's the nagging guilt because I have a gym membership chewing up money and I keep not going because i have no time, I found out there's a Tuesday night al-anon meeting literally around the corner from me and I keep saying THIS WEEK I will go (daughter came home from her Dad's, and announced that she needs to be driven somewhere right at that time this Tuesday, Gah! Gah! I won't just give in and not go, I'll find a way to work around it. Consider this a promise to myself.

And i guess the only thing I can say is, at least I am no longer bored or purposeless. 

Anyway. That's my whinge for the week. Why oh why did I make such a stupid, stupid mistake? It's going to be so costly.

Sigh.

(((Everyone)))

 

 



-- Edited by missmeliss on Sunday 1st of May 2016 02:04:57 PM

__________________

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? (Lewis Caroll)



~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1662
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Sending you a big warm calming hug

(((((( melly ))))))

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~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1887
Date:

Thank you

__________________

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? (Lewis Caroll)



~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1258
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Ugh, i'm sorry. Never fun to be overwhelmed with adult responsibilities along with trying to better yourself through schooling and classes, etc. College is hard enough as a single! Hugs to you. I hope she lets you redo the assignment. As much of a pain as it is, at least you wouldn't flunk the course. Sending you peace and calming hugs today!

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Never grow a wishbone where your backbone ought to be!


~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1887
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Thanks Andromeda, fingers crossed
Calming hugs much appreciated.

__________________

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? (Lewis Caroll)



~*Service Worker*~

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I am a university professor and I am a stickler for the rules (because you wouldn't believe how many students try to get by with crazy stuff!) - but at our place, a "self-reported" instance of plagiarism like you describe would never be counted as plagiarism.  Our rules wouldn't allow it and I myself wouldn't ever count it as plagiarism.  After all, if you were trying to sneak something by the professor, why on earth would you tell her about it before she even reads it?  That would be the world's most inefficient attempt at plagiarism. 

She may get snarky about "carelessness" and "now I have to figure out some special way of grading this" or whatever, but personally I would be astounded if she counted it as common-or-garden plagiarism.  Plus I never recommend this because it's a hassle, but if she did, the "Academic Misconduct" office or whatever would set her straight.

In the bigger picture, we're always scanning the landscape looking for things that might go wrong, aren't we?  And it's hard to stay even-keeled when we know something is out of the ordinary and the outcome is not clear.  Maybe time to do something extra good for yourself!  And especially congratulations for getting out in front of the potential trouble and being forthright and honest.  What more could anyone ask?



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~*Service Worker*~

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Oh MissMel - you make me grateful that I went to school before there was all 'this' going on.....I did as you do - I would cut/paste my research into a working document and then formulate my own assignment based on the research. I could easily have done what you did - esp. if I were tired, over-worked (and under-paid)!!!

Mattie gives experience that is very helpful for your situation. Hopefully this will result in a warning only and maybe a hand-slap. I did my undergrad and my graduate degree while working full time. My boys appeared at the end of my undergrad/during my graduate. I honestly look back now and have no idea how I did it all - it was way too much. At the time, my AH was travelling away from home 75% of the time and active with his disease. I would not do it again today - I just would not be able to handle it....I'm less of a perfectionist and don't punish myself like I did was I was younger.

Know that I'm sending you positive thoughts and praying for a fair outcome! I applaud you for doing all that you're doing and hope you get to your meeting! (and the gym)...

(((Hugs)))

__________________

Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging.  Pause before assuming.  Pause before accusing.  Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret.  ~~~~  Lori Deschene

 

 



~*Service Worker*~

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(((Ms.M. )) Your sentence of:" oh well at least I am not purposeless or bored any loneger" says it all.  It  is so true. Keep up the good work.  You are a wonder.



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Betty

THE HIGHEST FORM OF WISDOM IS KINDNESS

Talmud


Veteran Member

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You really do have a lot on your plate. Maybe she'll cut you some slack because you were honest. Either way, you did the best you could under the circumstances by reporting it to her right away. All you can do is let it go for now and try not to worry about it because that only steals good moments from you.  I had a huge course load like this some years ago. You know not being in my twenties and a looming divorce to an A, I wanted to get done as quick as I could. I had what I believed to be a royal screw up too but it all balanced out in the end as far as my overall grades were concerned. I use to come here late at night into chat and whine a bit when I felt like I couldn't type one more word. People are so loving and encouraging here. These mistakes are going to happen so please please please don't beat yourself up over it. I don't know if this will help you but I would try to find different places to get my papers done at times. Depending how intense it was. If it wasn't too intense, I'd find a coffee shop just for a change of pace since I couldn't be doing something fun and had to do the schoolwork. When I needed absolute quiet I worked from home. I would allow myself a half hour break here and there and go outside for air. It helped me to refocus, my thinking my concentration was better when I allowed myself to rest for a short time.  I don't know if any of this helps but there are studies that show that people who break to recharge their batteries have even better concentration when they return to a task. It does suck to have to say no to certain things due to a heavy course load but you're doing well and it's only temporary. Hang in there!  (((hugs)))) TT



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Surround yourself with people and elements that support your destiny, not just your history.



~*Service Worker*~

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Mel, I have not been as present here for a while so this may seem interesting to you...

The take on what your your daily life is like. OMG! You have come soooooo far. You were literally homebound, couldn't drive, acute trauma....and totally stuck and hopeless in the same house with a time bomb alcoholic boyfriend.

Yes...not to minimize your stress at all, but it is like basically empowered single mom stuff. Amazing. You are a miracle.

Aside from that, I will just say there will be slowdown time later probably and you will not be used to that slow paced life...so might as well keep pluggin away. I hope you are getting closer to finishing school. You are deserving of a nice professional job with a FAT paycheck!

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~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1887
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Thank you gorgeous friends. Your support is amazing

Well I got a reply email and it was about as far from what I was expecting as you can get, lol! Ahe said she had looked through the assignment and seen "nothing immediately concerning" especially since the similarity score was low, and that I can resubmit the assignment tonight and take the 10% penalty (it's 10% per late day) or leave it as it stands. She also pointed out that I used the wrong referencing system (again) and will lose a mark for it. Which was actually very helpful really, if I redo it and lose marks I can make one back there.

Now I know I ripped off a passage and it shows in the detection thingy if she goes right through it which she probably will now, wheras she wouldn't have before because the similarity score overall was low. OMG. lol!!!!  But since I've told her about it and she's told me not to worry about it does it matter? confuse Thanks for the insight into the professory mind Mattie; you know even though I volunteered my error straight away, I had an incident years ago when I was babysitting. I went home with something of theirs accidentally and when I got home I realised what I'd done and called her and she laughed and said 'oh easily done, no big deal" and then she called back and said she'd changed her mind and called the police "in case you are crazy and you do this sort of thing all the time". Which was just so mortifying and comes to mind now any time I am in a situation where I need to tell someone I've done something wrong; that they'll decide I am crazy and therefore my motives don't need to make sense, it was all deliberate regardless. Ha. What??? lol. 

So now I am not facing any kind of huge penalty which is a huge relief and must just decide whether to take the 10% penalty and rework the assignment knowing that I have done it correctly or leave it as it stands knowing that she will either realise which passage is plagarised and I'll lose marks anyway OR she will grade it as if it was my own work (which could be amusing if she finds fault with it, lol).

If I resubmit then I have until midnight tonight and if I wanted to, I could make it a lot better but I have a lot of other work to get on with, including an essay that I have not started (and am meant to be meeting with a lecturer to go through my draft tomorrow). Living on the edge, me, lol.

I guess I should let her know soon. After I drive to the dentist on 4 hours sleep because I was up all night worrying. Gah!!

I like the idea of taking my work out of the house. That's probably exactly what I need actually. I'm going to plot places to go; they have just built a grand new library in town (it looks like a spaceship with trees growing inside) so, that's probably the logical choice!!

And thanks Pink, it's true, it's hard to believe how different everything is really. At some point I realised that I COULD do things and I AM NOT useless and bad and it just seems to keep snowballing. That came about through working those steps and the care and support of people right here, you being one of them

And yes, in fact, I have just sent a text to daughter agreeing to take her to the gym tonight, before driving her to her friends house for her own study date. because, hey, I only have 2 assignments to do tonight, not 4 like last night!!!!

Lol, lol, lol.

It's a beautiful sunny day and I wish you all hugs and happy things

(((everyone)))



-- Edited by missmeliss on Sunday 1st of May 2016 09:26:55 PM

__________________

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? (Lewis Caroll)



Senior Member

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Thanks for the update! So glad you got this kind of response from her, and I hope you can take her "not to worry" at face value, despite that awful babysitting experience (yikes!). Hope tonight's assignments go smoothly, with inspiration!

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a4l


~*Service Worker*~

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My mind can not comprehend 6 assignments in 48 hours. Simply can not. Sending good vibes xxx

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~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1887
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Well, I only have to start the new ones not complete them, although to be honest I'm all sore and weird after the dentist and tempted to cancel the gym thing, get into bed and read myself to sleep. I think, once I've dropped kid at her friends, I will. I'm all giggly and loopy which is a pretty good sign of exhaustion for me.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

__________________

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? (Lewis Caroll)



~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 11569
Date:

Yay for you and the update MissMel - take good care of yourself.....the dentist is my least favorite visit to make - it stresses me out!!!

(((Hugs))) - you got this girl - you got this!!

__________________

Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging.  Pause before assuming.  Pause before accusing.  Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret.  ~~~~  Lori Deschene

 

 



~*Service Worker*~

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((((((((((Mel Kay))))))))))).

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Do the next right thing~

ONE DAY AT A TIME!

 

 



Senior Member

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(((MissMel))) I'm hoping you are having a less stressful day today, and that you got your 15 minute of sunshine.

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Life is short, so make it beautiful and sweet.



~*Service Worker*~

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Positive energy is being sent your way!


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~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1887
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Well, I ended up emailing her back that as long as I wasn't facing any trouble for the blunder I would leave the assignment as it is. I just don't have time to re-do it and when she comes across the stolen lines she will know how they came to be there and I guess just rule them out? She said there's nothing to be concerned about so I'll take her at her word.

I have her class late on a Tuesday and I always leave early because I can't leave my daughter home alone so late and the class technically has no attendance requirement (that was why I signed on for it knowing I couldn't stay for the full classes)- but I still feel rude walking out at break time every week.
Anyway she said 'you're off then?" and I babbled on with an apology explaining that I have a 13 year old home alone and can't stay too late and she was really nice and said she understands completely. I enjoy the class a lot and that's probably obvious to her so it's all good, I walked away feeling good.

They had a trade day set up today where all of the various professional associations and suppliers have tables and hand out information and each of them asked me how far I was from graduating and when I said I was almost into my 4th year they all lit up and told me I will qualify for membership and can buy wholesale as soon as I start 4th year (in 2 months). That was kind of cool. One lady from one of the associations took the time to tell me about their mentoring program for new graduates and I hadn't known such a thing existed; it sounded great. So I'm kind of excited now; I really am into the home stretch.

So all's well that ends well

__________________

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? (Lewis Caroll)



~*Service Worker*~

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Sounds positively lovely MissMel!!! Glad to hear your excitement for your last year! It's all good - and you're doing great!

__________________

Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging.  Pause before assuming.  Pause before accusing.  Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret.  ~~~~  Lori Deschene

 

 

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