This happened this week and I am pretty upset over it all.
After taking our midterms last week a friend and I were discussing the test outside of class. I had asthma really bad and told him that I had been getting confused on some of the "matching" questions. We are not allowed to write on the tests, so I told him that "I wrote ABCDE on the side of my scantron, then for the "set" of questions I would write the q# next to to the letter....and use the process of elimination for the ones I just couldn't remember" .
One woman overheard me talking and the following class told everyone that I wrote the answers to the labs on my scantron and brought them into class to cheat with. Then she, and her friend, went to our Prof and told him that "Mary personally told her that I cheated on the midterm by writing the lab anwers on my scantron and brought it in to the test"! I was not at this lecture class as I was at the MD dealing with my asthma issue and by the time I got to lab later than day the rumor mill was running rampant. Most people not believing that I would do such a thing. There were a few who don't know me well and thought that since this girl was told "personally" that it must be true. I went to the Prof and told him I heard this story and that I would never cheat.... i told him what I did and what I said. He told me not to worry about it, that he never believed it for a second and had told the reporting party that he didn't think I would cheat.... thankfully he knows me well in class!
Durig that lab they kept rumoring etc... and finally my classmates told them that we would all meet after class to work this out. Well they left before class was over and everyone realized that they were lying.
For the next lab day, I decided to just let it go and concentrate on class and to just act as if nothing happened... I mean who cares right? Well, right away I can hear this one person telling the people at her table that not only am I a cheater now I am a liar on top of it! I finally got angry and went over to her and told her that I did not cheat and that I never even had a conversation with her to please stop saying these things. She was adamant that I cheated... one of the girls at the table asked to speak to me outside and so i went with her. She told me that nobody believed this person and that the whole class was behind me 100%. She was in fact defending me (I knew this) and that these two girls are just jealous over my grades and want to upset me. Which is true, they are not very gracious about the grades even tho we are not graded on a curve.
I again talked to our Prof and told him what was happening.... I mean why should I have to hear someone accusing me of something like this from across the room? I am the last person who would cheat, I've even taken tests back to Prof's who have mistakenly given me credit for a wrong answer before! I work really hard on my material, help anyone and everyone with whatever is asked. I make up study tests and share them with others, have study groups before tests to help others too. I am very popular in class because I know the material and am a willing helper.
I would have expected this type of stuff from teens, but these women are in their 40's and I am 45! I think part of it is that the prof is single, cute and spends a great deal of time with our table... we are all married women and only see him as a fun prof. One of the women involved is single and her friend has done her best to get the prof interested in her.
I know this is all really childish stuff, but it really bothers me that anyone would accuse me of cheating because I work very very hard to get good grades. My GPA is 3.6.... and I certainly earned every credit.
I am sooooo hoping by the time we go back after break, these two will have stopped. If not, I guess I need to do something.... I am worried that someone who doesn't know me might believe this garbage.
Thanks for letting me vent...... sigh...... I need a vacation! lol
