Gabriela B. Bogusz

By:

Have you ever been in a situation you

can‟t simply run away from

without consequences?

The Mistake

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I dedicate this to my beloved family and Mrs. K

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The clock was ticking. My full attention focused on the time. With every

second I was getting more excited to be almost finished with the class. I knew

that when I got back home I had to start the math project that was assigned a

week ago, but I wasn‟t worried. I drifted off, not listening to the teacher

continuing her lecture and looked out the window. Outside was a different

world. The sky was light blue and the sun bright yellow. Kids were running

around the playground having fun. Almost the end of the school day! Can’t wait

until I get home, go outside to bike with my friends. The math project is due next

week. I don’t have to do it today, there’s still plenty of time. Groovy. The bell

rang, I was out the door.

Back at home I was anxious to pursue my plan. “Mom, I‟m going

outside!” I yelled. “Honey you promised you will start doing the math project

today. You already neglected it for a week,” she said kindly.

“Oh mom, but I still have loads of time and it‟s so easy. The project is called

Math Around Us. We just have to find shapes, decimals or fractions that we

have at home or we use in our everyday life! Easy Peasy!” I answered.

“Alright. I trust you. I hope you know what you‟re doing. It‟s your decision. Oh

and don‟t forget to wear your scarf, its cold outside,” she said with a caring

smile.

A week went by. I kept finding reasons so that I wouldn't have to sit

down and work on the important project. Before I knew it, the deadline was

right around the corner.

The day before the project was due I was a nervous wreck. No matter

how hard I tried, I could not focus in any of the classes. By the time math class

was about to begin I was in pieces, worried I wouldn‟t have the assignment

done for tomorrow. I walked slowly into the cold classroom and glanced over at

Mrs. K. Does she look scarier than usual? The smile I usually found

comforting gave me shivers and her usually kind eyes pierced me to the bone.

The class dragged on and right before it was over, her dark-green, glossy eyes

gazed at me as she announced, “I hope you all have been working on the

projects that are due tomorrow. I won't accept any excuses!” I held my breath. I

was frozen. What will I do? I thought in desperation. I walked out of the room

slowly yet my heart was racing wild.

I don‟t remember the way back home. I resembled more a zombie than I

did a human. I ate dinner. I found millions of things to do in order to take my

mind off the inevitable task ahead of me. At 9 p.m. I knew this was it. I sat

down and looked at the blank poster paper.

Minutes went by quickly. By 10 p.m, all I did was write my name. At

10:30 p.m. my eyes were already dying. I looked at the paper, half filled. Should

I give up? I began thinking about what the teacher said to us about two weeks

ago. She said that we would have enough time to do the project if we spend at

least 10 minutes everyday on the project. Silly me, if only I listened!

The project was supposed to be easy, but now there was so much to be

done in such a short amount of time and I could not focus. By 11 p.m. I was

almost done. My poster was filled with cut-outs from newspapers and self-made

drawings. I tried doing the labels neatly, but no matter how hard I tried they

looked sloppy anyhow. Tired, half awake and half asleep I glanced at my watch.

Already midnight! I can’t believe I had to go through this and I have only

myself to blame! I got up from my desk with the finished poster laying on top of

it. I managed to walk over to my bed and few seconds after I threw myself on

the bed, I was deeply asleep.

The next day I was very exhausted. My first class of the day was math,

unfortunately. Hopefully I did the project correctly. All of the students began

slowly handing in their projects to the finished homework tray. I got back to my

seat and prayed for a miracle. I’m so nervous! During our math practice I

peeked every once awhile checking if she‟s looking at my project. Out of

nowhere. She‟s done. She took the projects and started to call out the names for

each student to come, take their project and find out their grade. “Susie, here

you go. Ola, great job. Marta, nicely done. Maja, Gabi.” She said my name! I

got up from the chair slowly and quietly as a mouse I got the project out of her

hand. Just when I was about to leave she stopped me and said in a confident

voice. “I need to talk to you after class.” The bell rang.

Unsure, I reached my teacher‟s desk. A funny smile appeared on my

homeroom teacher. What’s going on? “Yes?” I said. She pulled out a copy of

my project.

“Have you noticed anything wrong in your project?” My body shook; I took a

deep breath and hope she doesn‟t know.

“No...?” I say.

“Are you sure?” She shook her head with a weird smile on her face. She stared

at me as if she was expecting something. “Do you recognize those grammatical

mistakes?”

„WHAT?‟ I yelled. “There must be some kind of mistake, I didn‟t do those! I

know how to spell multiplication and all those other words. I swea......” Then it

HIT me.

I froze with my mouth still open, trying to finish my last word, but

nothing was coming out. Only the thoughts in my head were creating. I must

have been so tired that I didn’t even notice those mistakes. I didn’t even go

through it! I unfroze and I sat there trying to make an excuse. I didn‟t want her

to be mad at me! She looked at me and asked, “At what time did you go to sleep

yesterday Gabi?” Maybe there’s still escape? Her smile is so trustworthy now,

that there‟s nothing else I can do than just say the truth.

“I‟m sorry! I thought it would be really easy, so I spend the whole evening until

midnight to work on the project. I must have been so tired that I didn‟t notice

those mistakes!” How did I manage to say so much in no less than 5 seconds?

My eyes staring at her, waiting for a reply.

“Gabi, why didn‟t you come to me in the first place?” she announced.

“I don‟t know. I thought that at the end I will get it done perfectly.” I answered.

“Don‟t be sorry. Things happen. You just have to learn on your mistakes. You

have to get used to the fact of doing your homework earlier if the teacher gives

you time for that. That way it will be easier.” she told. We talked for another

five minutes and then I walked out of her class feeling relieved!

How could I have allowed for this to happen? All these worries and

negative feelings were so unnecessary. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if I

actually did the project earlier? Well, I guess now I can‟t go back in time,

sadly. What I can do is make sure that next time such a moment never will

happen in my life. I have to do my best to make sure I will never have to sit at

night doing my work, ever. That way everything will be so much less stressful!

Since then I never again started to do my project so late ever. Again.