Rotary Club of Pismo Beach / Five Cities
Charles Royal, Second Place
Middle School Division, Grade 8
Barb Babka, Judkins
I walked into my house with an upside down grin on my face. Once again I was swamped with homework. Almost every period, I had homework. I sat down on the couch, relieved that school was over. The first thing my dad asked me as I sat down was, “Do you have any homework?” An impulse of thought surged through my brain, and then I replied, “No.” I lied. My parents had normally trusted me most of the time. I thought that I could get away with something I shouldn’t have done. In the end I realized that I had just made a very bad mistake.
In certain ways, we as humans, are different, but being human is what also makes us alike. One of these major things that make us alike is our mistakes. The mistake I made was lying. Once I lied the first time it lead to more and more and more. Petty soon, I was doing no homework at all. Then it came to the end of the second quarter, boy was I in for a surprise. I had a D- in math and a C- in language.
After my parents found out about this, they were quite mad. I realized that I would have been too it someone else lied to me. I was now sick of the phrase, “I don’t have homework.” I learned that with something done wrong, there will always be consequences. For now it was two weeks grounded off the computer, but also something else. That something else was that my parents had lost trust in me. Trust is the best thing to have with someone else. I don’t think I will ever lie again (at least I hope).
In the end, the benefit of lying went to no one. I had gotten in trouble, my parents had gotten stressed out, and my teachers were disappointed. I now have good grades in all of my classes. Through this ordeal though, I have learned from my mistake (or mistakes). I also know that you can change your ways if you really try. This is what all should strive to do in life, even if you think you can’t, I think you can.