This I Believe

I believe in the challenge to tell the truth knowing that if you do you will face major consequences. I learned this value when I lied to my first grade teacher. This experience has proved to me that most of the time there is no other way out except for telling the truth.

It was Friday afternoon, and I was anxious to go home. The teacher was reading My Father’s Dragon to the class. It was very hard to pay attention to my teacher read, because I was very tired and just wanted to go home and sleep. I was so bored that I grabbed a bunch of crayons, a permanent marker, and randomly scribbled in the desk. With all my effort I pushed the marker and crayons down as hard as I could on the roof of the desk, assuming that no one would take the time to look inside.

When Monday came, two days after I vandalized the school’s property, my teacher handed me a letter. She told me to give it directly to my parents. At first I thought it was just one of those informational letters that gets sent to everyone’s parents. She gave me a mean look and went back to her desk. I immediately realized what the letter was about.

After school ended I ran to the bus and tore the letter open. It explained that I had drawn in my desk and how I hadn’t been paying attention. I was suddenly overcome by fear. I couldn’t give this to my parents. They would call my teacher and I would have to explain myself to the principal. If I didn’t show my parents it might be possible to get away with it.

On Tuesday, my teacher asked me if I drew inside the desk, I told her no. It must have been someone else. She asked me if I gave my parents the letter. I said yes. She said she was going to call my parents after school just to make sure. I didn’t know what to do. At the end of class I walked up to my teacher. I told her the truth.

Even though my teacher did call my parents and I was punished, I still learned a valuable lesson. Honesty is very important otherwise people will think of you as a liar and no one will ever trust you. I probably would have got in even more trouble if I hadn’t eventually told the truth. Ever since then I have never told a lie. Just kidding.