Not everybody deserves a second chance
Yesterday, I went to see my supervisor to return an MBA thesis.
In his office:
I handed in my project proposal yesterday.
Yeah. I got it. But you have a lot of reference which you didn't include.
But I didn't read the journals. I took them from the journals that I read that's why I didn't include them in the reference.
That can be dangerous, you know. You did a great job in the proposal but your reference wasn't good.
Yeah.. um.. will I be penalised for the reference.
Yes... We'll see how it goes.
I'll loose a lot of marks?
Yeah.. maybe.
Ok... *I was so speechless*
It's ok, it's a learning process, you know.
Yeah.. Thanks. See you around.
Pleasure.
I walked out from my supervisor's room, disappointed. It was like the end of the world. I worked my guts out for this proposal and now, I will be penalised because I didn't reference the journals which I quoted. What I did in the proposal was XYZ's (199X) theory is consistent with ABC (199X) and DEF (200X). I only referenced XYZ's but not ABC's and DEF's.
I came back, sat in front of my laptop and decided to send an email to my supervisor, hoping that I'll be given a second chance. I didn't specify what I wanted to do but I mentioned that I hope I can do something in order to ammend the mistakes.
Almost every hour, I checked my Inbox. One hour passed... two hours passed.. the third hour.. the forth hour..... And today... No reply.
No more... no more second chance for me. Damage has been done and there is no turning back at all.
I'm shattered. I'm sad. The mark that I get will be final because this proposal is worth 10 credits. I see my first class flying away... I can no longer dream of going to LSE. I can no longer dream of Oxbridge. I don't think LSE and Oxbridge will accept a 2:1 graduate.
I have now learnt the importance of referencing. Never ever mess with it.
In his office:
I handed in my project proposal yesterday.
Yeah. I got it. But you have a lot of reference which you didn't include.
But I didn't read the journals. I took them from the journals that I read that's why I didn't include them in the reference.
That can be dangerous, you know. You did a great job in the proposal but your reference wasn't good.
Yeah.. um.. will I be penalised for the reference.
Yes... We'll see how it goes.
I'll loose a lot of marks?
Yeah.. maybe.
Ok... *I was so speechless*
It's ok, it's a learning process, you know.
Yeah.. Thanks. See you around.
Pleasure.
I walked out from my supervisor's room, disappointed. It was like the end of the world. I worked my guts out for this proposal and now, I will be penalised because I didn't reference the journals which I quoted. What I did in the proposal was XYZ's (199X) theory is consistent with ABC (199X) and DEF (200X). I only referenced XYZ's but not ABC's and DEF's.
I came back, sat in front of my laptop and decided to send an email to my supervisor, hoping that I'll be given a second chance. I didn't specify what I wanted to do but I mentioned that I hope I can do something in order to ammend the mistakes.
Almost every hour, I checked my Inbox. One hour passed... two hours passed.. the third hour.. the forth hour..... And today... No reply.
No more... no more second chance for me. Damage has been done and there is no turning back at all.
I'm shattered. I'm sad. The mark that I get will be final because this proposal is worth 10 credits. I see my first class flying away... I can no longer dream of going to LSE. I can no longer dream of Oxbridge. I don't think LSE and Oxbridge will accept a 2:1 graduate.
I have now learnt the importance of referencing. Never ever mess with it.
Oh yesss....in my university....the plagiarism thing is so annoying. For every idea that you did not know, you have to reference. For every fact that you did not know, you have to reference again. Ridiculous, what if I came up with the idea myself, that happened to be the same as the sources? But still, I have learnt how to cheat in referencing...heeheheee...coz you know what, at the end of the day, they do not look up every single thing you referenced to check for plagiarism. But well...this is only me being a lazy student in 2nd year university. So, I am not taking it that seriously...thus I can still cheat on the referencing...good luck!
Posted by
Yun |
21:57
1) No references or incorrect referencing is akin to passing off the work as your own - which is akin to plagiarism. The higher you get in your education line, the more important it is and the more severe the punishment.
2) Also, failure to reference is indirectly hinting to your supervisor/lecturer that you think he/she is a dumb stupid old foggy who brought his/her qualifications and you can hoodwink them because they are just blind. Insulting - even though you never meant that when you 'forgot'.
Well...lesson learnt the hard way. Over here, we fail students right away and that's the degree level. Don't make the mistake again. And good luck!
Posted by
Mabel |
02:07
News for you BabyAngel, there is such a thing as a plagiarism software. And not all lecturers 'don't check every single thing'. I do. Pray I'm not teaching you and will never.
Posted by
Mabel |
02:09
A Zulkifli: Thanks for the advice. From now on, I shall reference every single thing which I read. But seriously, I've never seen such detailed reference before. Even my PhD friends don't reference like you! I should do it when I write my dissertation. Thanks again!
The scarfer: Thanks for your advice. I swear it was a genuine mistake. Even my housemate did the same mistake as I. Oh well, I've learnt it the hard way and I shall never ever repeat the same mistake again. The thought of being failed just because I missed the reference is just scary! I don't think I want that to happen to me. Some lecturers are not strict at all. I overheard a conversation on the train. The lecturer mentioned that his students actually get plagiarise but he just didn't do anything about it because he doesn't want the fail the whole lot of them.
Thanks for commenting. =)
Posted by
MooPig |
04:00
Yes...some don't care without realizing that it brings down the quality of their teaching. Others like me, we give chances. Two strikes and you're out - that sort of thing. *pat pat* Don't worry. We all make mistakes. What matters now is whether we learn from it.
Posted by
Mabel |
07:17
Aiya..you should have asked me. I've been referencing the whole 3 years already. If you don't reference, if you don't cite anything sbout the author you referred to..which book he/she wrote..what journal..which page..which year..heck..even which volume and date of the journal...its a serious offence...at least a serious education offence.
But nvm..now you know. So don't repeat the same old again lah...you still got ur remaining 20 credits isnt it...do loads of referencing for that ok!
Posted by
CherryChocolateCandy |
12:03