Dear students,
I never thought I would have to write this message with such weight in my heart.
Every lesson, I have told you — pleaded with you —
please do not plagiarize. Not because it’s a rule. Not because it’s in the syllabus. But because it matters. It matters who
you are, what
you think, and what
you are becoming.
When someone steals something from a store, they hide. They are ashamed. Their heart races with guilt. But how is it that when one steals words — thoughts, ideas, knowledge — they feel no shame?
When I read your work and find parts that are copied word for word, without even a single attempt to rephrase, without even a reference… my heart sinks. It’s not only about breaking academic integrity — it’s about breaking trust. The trust I had in you. The belief that you were trying, even if it’s not perfect, even if it’s messy — but that it was
yours.
Yes, you may have added a reference. But that’s not enough. A reference doesn’t justify copying someone’s voice without transforming it through your own mind, your own understanding. That’s like wearing someone else’s face and saying, “But I mentioned their name.”
And what’s even more painful… is when, after all this, you message me asking: “Can you please not mark it that way?” “Can you change the grade?”
I want to ask you,
how?How can you ask me that, when I saw with my own eyes what you did?
Do you not see that you’re asking me to pretend I didn’t? To betray the honesty I’m trying to teach you?
I check your work not just as a lecturer, but as someone who truly wants to see you grow. I sit for hours, hoping to see your ideas, your progress, your voice. Instead, sometimes, I find silence dressed in borrowed words.
You may get a grade today, but what about tomorrow?
When the world asks you to stand on your own, will you still hide behind someone else’s work?
To those who plagiarized and still sleep peacefully — I have no anger left. Only disappointment.
You deserve better than this version of yourself. But until you choose truth over ease, honesty over marks, and growth over shortcuts… you will remain trapped.
And to the one reading this, who knows they copied and still asked for mercy in grading
shame on u.@bintunozim