turnitin.com

It's not often that something renders me speechless. (Funny how I describe myself as speechless, yet here I am, blogging about it!) It's been a while since I've had anything to say. Tonight I'm angry enough that I NEED to blog about it! Ever been accused of cheating in a class? I have. It didn't feel good. It happened in high school in front of the entire class. It was over one measly question on a math test. It was correct, but it had been marked wrong and it was just enough to pull me down to a B. I argued that I had the right answer and the teacher accused me of changing the answer. If you know you me at all, you know that I lost it on him. You also may have guessed that after I convinced him that I didn't cheat, I refused to take the A. I still hate that guy. I got good grades in HS. I didn't need to cheat. Being accused of it was insulting, infuriating and humiliating. That was over ten years ago (man, I'm getting old!). All of those shitty feelings got brought up again this week. This time I haven't directly been accused of cheating, but I'm enrolled in three college classes that require me to turn in all my work to turnitin.com. Bastards! I'm not sure who to hate. The people who run the website? My university for requiring/allowing it? Or my instructors for being lazy bastards and forcing me to succumb to these lazy and inconsiderate policies? I'll turn in my work, because college is important to me (only because it's so damn important to the rest of the world, mainly my future employers) and I can be a bit of a conformist. But, damn it, I refuse to be quiet about this! I shouldn't be treated like a cheater. The losers who can't write a paper will get what's coming to them. Don't punish the rest of us for their actions.

The internet is a great resource and just an all around amazing utility, but I really hate when it's used against me. I don't think I should be required to submit my paper to anyone, except the person who will be grading it.

Is it just me? I'm ready for a full on revolution.