<p>I would just like to start off by hoping this is the right area of the forum this discussion goes in. If not, forgive me because I’m new here but would like to have some sort of, disclosure to the turmoil I am feeling right now.
Last week on the days May 21st-23rd, many of us took the late AP exams, myself included. I had two exams, AP English Language and AP Calculus AB. AP English Language wasn’t terrible at all, except for one Multiple Choice passage and the Synthesis essay. However I felt I did very well, and there were no problems. AP Calculus AB is where the problems start. Ever since the 9th grade I’ve made it a personal goal to be on the top. I don’t know why I did, I just liked having people proud of me. Proud of my grades and academics mainly due to my race. Where I live, and the school I attend, it isn’t the best. We did however get the AP Calc class added and I was put in it without taking Pre-Calc. I struggled very hard in that class and was absolutely worried about the exam. My teacher put a lot of faith in me and I felt I had to prove to him that I can do well. On the day of the test, I was absolutely miserable. I was low on sleep because I stayed up all night studying before, and the test was at 8AM. When the test began things were okay until the proctor, my 10th grade Global History teacher, kept coming to my table and shifting my answering sheet. Apparently this year, my school decided to take all AP exams in the Library, and the Library has limited space. We were all confined to tables of 4. And at my table, I had two people sitting no more than 9-12 inches away from me? It was very close. Now the proctor came three times to my table to shift only MY answering sheet. I dunno if he suspected me of cheating but the Friday after the exam, my mom tells me the school called…and wants to have a meeting with me and my mother on Tuesday May 27th… This is where I got scared. So many things ran through my mind, and since the weekend was extra long due to Memorial day, I was paranoid. However, to get bring in the Discussion title, The WHOLE administration board, including my Calculus teacher determined I cheated on this test, and not only invalidated my AP Calc score, but took away my Valedictorian title…Based on an assumption made by the proctor. Now, I feel like an absolute failure. I broke down in tears during the meeting, on the way home, and in my room as I shunned myself for being so stupid and weak. After 4 years of hard work, why would I risk my status and grade for a test? But not even the principal believed me. They punished me for something they know I would never do. And now I’m an absolute mess. They all keep telling me, “This is a learning experience” Experience of what? That everyone is out to get me? That you all see me as a liar? All I got was that this world is a sad place, and I can never recover from this. Everyone in my school and my graduating class of 2014 knew or expected me to be Valedictorian. I worked so hard. And it all gets taken away from me because of an assumption. I vowed to hate every teacher involved in this. Especially the proctor himself. I have even hated myself so strongly that I’ve spent hours looking up a way to injure myself or the most painless way to commit suicide to end this embarrassment. I can’t go back to school with this shame. I’ve already decided not to go to graduation. And I’m contemplating whether to even go to class. I can’t face my teacher when no one believes me. I put my honest hard work into that test and I struggled all by myself. And I feel like an absolute failure. I am so sure, that this has never happened to someone. Not in this school and it must be extra rare. I’m an idiot and I feel like I don’t even deserve to go to college because of this. I don’t know what else to do…The embarrassment is killing me and I feel like giving up. Any motivational words depress me even more because I know NO ONE has been in this situation. It’s how rare of a mess-up I am and how much a failure I will remain.
However, despite the immense depression, I would really to read the thoughts of other strangers. People who don’t have any connection with this but can still give a judgment on this situation. I just want some proper consolation. No shameful eyes, no hard glares and pain. Anything will help. I feel like talking to strangers would give me some sort of organization of my thoughts. Because as of now, they are the darkest you can imagine.</p>
<p>D: if I was you I would cry too! That’s horrible! We tested in the library as well but our seating was well spaced and we had makeshift dividers. Did you guys have dividers? </p>
<p>I can’t believe none of your teachers would believe you. That’s so disgusting! Apparently those relationships you built with them were fake…</p>
<p>:( I’m so sorry. I truly wish you the best!</p>
<p>Report this to the superintendent, make as much noise about it as possible, try to get it on the local news. Obviously, if you’ve been the top of your class for this long and have a great record, any practical person would believe that you didn’t cheat. Just explain the situation to anyone who’ll listen, maybe even show them this post (but clean it up a bit). Good luck.</p>
<p>Oh, and if it doesn’t work out, don’t do anything stupid. Its honestly just a title. Sure it looks good, but being valedictorian is not all life’s about.</p>
<p>Oh my! You ought to be reporting the school for this. “We were all confined to tables of 4. And at my table, I had two people sitting no more than 9-12 inches away from me? It was very close.” If they wrongly accused you for cheating, you shouldn’t feel bad for telling the truth and having everyone else’s tests invalidated for this. That shouldn’t be allowed. There probably was actual cheating. </p>
<p>That’s so stupid. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the rules say you have to be 10 feet away from the person you’re next to? Also were you cheating as in looking at another persons sheet or did you bring notes or something? You can ask them to compare your guys answer sheets, it won’t hurt to ask. I’m sorry about your situation. ;( </p>
<p>Dude, this made me feel mad. You should raise hell about this situation.</p>
<p>@Jellybae Thank you for your response. To answer, there was absolutely no dividers. We all sat in the open. Imagine a table at a typical diner or restaurant. That was our testing area. @futureuclabruin, I can sadly assure, there was cheating. During the course of the exam, we had many proctors and we had ones that didn’t pay strict attention to any of us. People talked, sang, laughed, threw paper balls, and didn’t get caught. Yet I was accused and not listened to. I do understand that Valedictorian is just a title, but I feel like I really did waste my 4 years of High School. I’m ashamed of going back to school for the last 2 weeks of classes before Regents. I bet they’d accuse me of cheating then as well -.- It’s the fact that my AP Calculus teacher is EMBARRASSED of me, when I did nothing!, that makes me upset, and consider myself a failure. I let him down in the end because my score went and got invalidated. </p>
<p>You need to say something about this to someone bigger and make sure you get justice. Make noise if you really want it, because if you deserve that title you better get it. Maybe the proctor was racist? This world is full of hateful, close-minded and dim people and apparently you got stuck with a bunch of them. Don’t let them put you out. You are a fire, and you will go to college and be the best you can be. Standing up for yourself and fighting their impudent decision shows that you have drive and passion, and if YOU know that YOU deserve justice, it is up to YOU to do something about it. You are obviously intelligent, motivated, and ambitious. Don’t let one proctor’s word stand in front of your happiness. </p>
<p>Another fully agreeing that this is completely unjustified, unfair, and illegal by AP rules. Report the school and make a big stink if you want, it is completely merited. Get the word out, I hate to say it but I agree as well that the proctor very well could be racist as there seems to be no details here that show ANY possible reason for you getting reported. This is also a serious issue, that if brought up can get some attention by the school and newspapers if you believe this may be merited.</p>
<p>All that said, Valedictorian is just a title as others have said. In the end, your life will probably not be affected by this unless it affects the college you are planning to attend. If this affects your college attendance, make a HUGE deal out of this. </p>
<p>Also, ignore that long post, it is a spam account. Sorry about that, I am sure I am not the only one that has reported it.</p>
<p>Best of luck! Update the thread with progress!</p>
<p>Don’t do anything you might regret. Listen, no matter what happens, you are a great person that defied expectations, took challenges, and you have every right to be angry with what happend to you. But know that you have people behind you, people who care, and believe in you no matter what someone else says. Think of all your friends. Don’t you think they would find such a thing incredulous? Remember who you are and what you stand for and don’t let a few accusations get in the way.</p>
<p>If anything, THE SCHOOL, should have been responsible for setting up better bounds. I know during my experience with AP testing, every single student had to be at least 10 feet apart. Our teacher measured it with measuring tape and was extremely strict about it. By having you sit at those shared tables, they were in effect violating the rules of the College Board and the AP administration.</p>
<p>Talk to them. Why do they think you cheated? Was there any reasonable justification? I doubt it, and I don’t see why they should believe one person’s word without clear evidence especially given your record. Has the teacher held a grudge against you for something? Quite frankly I find it ridiculous, that he specifically goes and moves your answer sheet several times, doesn’t talk to you at all on the day of the test, and then accuses you of cheating.</p>
<p>And even if nothing else comes out of it, you are still the person that you have built for yourself. You are not a failure? Did you mess up? No, it was the school. So get this straightened out right away. Remember graduation and becoming a valedictorian is such a small part of life anyway. It may not feel like it right now, but you have many great things ahead of you. After graduation, you don’t have to look at these people ever again. Keep your head held high, tell them honestly what happened, and don’t let this get in the way of what you do after high school or the person you are.</p>
<p>And how is an AP test that was take took in</p>
<p>May going to affect Val status? And your college acceptances were already in place? I think from your writing you are the same ■■■■■ from the other thread about taking a SAT by mistake.</p>
<p>Seriously, if this was just a matter of taking the title away, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad, but the assumption that you were cheating means that it’s going to go on your permanent record. So fight it, report it to the superintendent, get character testimony, sue the school if you have to. But don’t just sit there and do nothing, because this entire situation is just screwed up.</p>
<p>I’d ■■■■ ■■■■ up. Make life as hellish as possible for them.</p>
<p>You are a great person for making high goals for yourself, but it is the process rather than the end goal that matters. This is a very tiny slice of what sounds like will be a very full life. Please don’t do anything that might cause you to lose that future. Can you talk with your parents or other adults who can be supportive? Try to stand tall - remember that they are in the wrong for making inaccurate assumptions - you didn’t do anything. I would fight this, but remember that you and your future are what is most important, not whether you are valedictorian or what other people think. I was co-valedictorian in high school and it has really not made any difference in my life.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your ideas and views on the situation. Fighting against this is harder than it sounds as holding a legal battle against a school with the Department of Education as their lawyers and absolutely no proof that my words rang true of the testing situation, it would be a hard battle to even gain some ground in for me and any legal team. I am also a naturally shy and withdrawn girl. To cause an uproar because of my injustice, when the consequences have already been applied to me seems like a lost cause. Maybe it’s just the depression talking but I strongly feel it would never work. As for the proctor who reported me, yes he is white, but I don’t think he’s a racist. No matter how strongly I despise him, I’ve only had him for one school year as a teacher and this school he works at is full of African American students. Even the principal. As to finding someone to talk to, I’ve been ignored by my mother since the meeting, Tuesday May 27th. She hasn’t said a word to me and that is one of the factors to my depression, belief that I am a huge failure, and the purpose that my life is officially ruined. Talking to my Guidance Counselor or a teacher is also a lost cause. According to the principal, she invited the whole flippin’ Administration staff to talk about me and this test. This is what’s keeping me from going to school. I fear the glares of shame and disappointment and I cannot bear to look any of them in the face. They’ll all believe the principal because that’s where their paychecks come from. The principal believes the teacher because, who am I kidding, no one will ever believe the student is not at fault in any situation here, and I’ll just break. Not to be racist, but black people do tend to be nosy. No matter how you try to keep your issues private, someone, somehow, finds out and everyone gets word. My friends will bug me for these last weeks asking what has happened. And I can’t tell them. I already gave up on graduation, maybe giving up on them is the next step? It’s really tough for me to move on and when I’ve been comforted, they always say, “You weren’t the first and you won’t be the last”. If that is so, why have I not heard of anyone suddenly getting an invalidated AP test score and losing the hard earned title of valedictorian? I strongly believe my situation is the first and the last. I’m pretty sure no one has such a bad luck streak. Except myself.
I have also begun to worry about college. Yes I have already gotten a college decision and so forth, I plan on going to SUNY Canton to study into the career path as a Veterinarian. I have applied to the Gates Millennium Scholarship with no success and I’ve barely gotten any scholarships on my own, ode to my bad luck. This is why losing Valedictorian killed me. Not only did I disappoint my mother, I’m sure, but how will I ever get a scholarship? I researched everything about being a Valedictorian and when I learned they could get a good scholarship, it gave me hope that I would be able to replace some, if not all my loans in my Financial Aid package. Now that hope is gone. And, I simply don’t know where to turn :(.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure the CollegeBoard requires 5 feet between each tester as a standardized requirement. At least that’s what I’ve been told. Talk to them about it?</p>
<p>Sorry if I called you a ■■■■■ by mistake, just this time of the year some students come out with outlandish stories. My daughter was a Questbridge match recipient as well as a Gates Scholar. PM me if you have questions about either.</p>
<p>If the conditions of the test were violated, do report this to College board. That would invalidate the test for everyone. Do look for some attorneys that could represent you on this. Call college board and ask, look for community resources and ask.</p>
<p>I don’t know what the case is against you. If the proctor and some other students report that your activity fits the pattern of cheating, you cheated as far at the test goes. You don’t have to cheat to be so labeled. Allowing others to cheat and acting like you were cheating would do it. A kid not thinking and writing some formulas on his hand or desk, for instance could be so accused and that is considered reasonable doubt and enough to fulfil the requirements. This is not a court of law. When you take such tests, write papers do whatever in college and the “real” world, you learn that you have to protect yourself from looking bad as well as not doing the deed itself, because it does not require a conviction from a court of law to adversely affect you.</p>
<p>Since we don’t have the full story here, and your principal, teachers, and all there, who have nothing to gain to smear you, or so it appears, all believe that your behavior was consistent with cheating, it’s going to be a tough haul to have it otherwise indicated. What precisely did you do and should you never do again to look like you were cheating. You need to find out exactly what you did that nailed you. Does it just come down the to word of the proctor who is out and out lying? That, is a problem, if that is pretty much the whole case against you. However, do find out if this is something that can be disputed in terms of school policy. College board will go with the proctor as those proctors are a direct extension of them when they are proctoring the exams unless there is proof otherwise. </p>
<p>I’m sorry this happened.</p>
<p>Perhaps your eyes wandered and the proctor saw it? You said you had been sleepy, so perhaps you may have looked up or something?And of they were adjusting the answer sheet, maybe they thought you were helping others cheat? I agree that the best thing to do is find a higher up to appeal to or at least know how they figured you were cheating.</p>
<p>You have already been accepted to college so I take it that you are a senior and have a few more weeks of school. While I can imagine that you are (understandably) upset at this time, the only thing to do is move forward.</p>
<p>An attorney with experience in educational law may be able to advise you about being unfairly accused of cheating. </p>
<p>Not going to school out of shame will only reinforce people’s ideas. Go to school with your head held high. If there is nothing to defend, then don’t defend it. You have a right to go to school, and your graduation, like everyone else- don’t give that up. Also know that what you think people are thinking may not be true. People have short memories. Today’s gossip is yesterday’s old news and people will find something else to pay attention to. </p>
<p>You can’t control what anyone else thinks, just how you behave. People can think or say anything, but if it isn’t true then their thinking it doesn’t make it true. </p>
<p>Time heals. A few years from now, even the valedictorian will be just another college student. Focus on doing the best you can, and then the next step. Your parents love you, and eventually they will come around. </p>
<p>Do not isolate yourself. You’ve posted here, but find someone you can talk to- a church leader, impartial friend or family member. If you feel depressed, get counseling from someone not connected to the school.</p>
<p>Turn a negative into good. Tell your math teacher how you feel. Don’t be defensive. Simply say that you know the teacher had faith in you, and that you would like to do what it takes to repair the relationship- take another test just to show him what you know, learn any extra material- even in the summer if you have to- for no grade- just the chance to prove yourself. Offer to help a struggling student if there are summer classes. Remember, the main reason to do this is for you, for your own self esteem. </p>
<p>People do make mistakes. This might be a combination of them. People recover from them- some much bigger than this one. No matter what happens, you are a bright young person and much of your future is AHEAD of you. You have had much success and will have more. So this is a stumble along the way. Pick up and keep going. </p>