See Also:
Beginning of a FAMOUS Hero: The Delilah Rene Luke Story.
Life Lesson #66 – Credibility is valuable.
It was the day for the big history test, and everyone was a little nervous. There were only twenty questions, so every question counted five points. “I can’t miss more than one,” Tenesha thought, “or I won’t make an A.” Well, soon the test was over, and it was time to go to the library and then to lunch. That’s when Mrs. Robbins had time to grade the papers.
When everyone was back in class, Mrs. Robbins began returning the graded papers. Tenesha was happy to see that she had made an A on her test, and the boy who sat next to her also made an A. But…Mrs. Robbins was not happy. Both papers had exactly the same answers—word for word. When she said something about it, the boy was very quick to say, “Tenesha copied my paper!” Well, Mrs. Robbins suspected it was the boy who actually did the copying, but she couldn’t prove it, so she had the two of them take the test again—this time on separate sides of the room. Sure enough, Tenesha made an A, and the boy failed the test.
Mrs. Robbins called the boy to her desk and told him he was being hurtful—in two different ways, actually. She said, “First, you tried to get Tenesha in trouble by telling a lie. And secondly, you were hurting your own future self by not paying attention in class and not making the effort to learn. If you continue to be lazy when it comes to learning, and if you continue to lie your way through life, you will someday realize just how hurtful to yourself you were. You won’t be able to get a good job, and nobody will believe you, even when you are telling the truth.”
That was a lot to think about, but he did think about it…that day, and for several days to come. Then he made a decision. He decided it was time to change the way he had been doing things.
– Jim Lord