Tania At School
It was over a year since Tania's 4th birthday. Tania was 5 years old and in the second year of Kindergarten. She loved going to school. It was a small preschool with 15 children in the class.
The school had a very smart and cute uniform. The girls wore a navy blue skirt and a white blouse with a navy blue collar.
Tania and her friends Tanisha and Sonali were all in the same class. The shiny yellow school bus picked them up at the gate to the housing society at 8:15 a.m.
School started at sharp 9:00 a.m. every weekday
morning. A pleasant sounding bell announced the beginning of the first class.
The first class was creative thinking, followed by reading and writing. Then there was a break for a mid morning snack.
After that there was singing, followed by art. Then
after another short break the children gathered together for story time before leaving for home.
Tania enjoyed all her classes and art was her favourite. Occasionally the teacher gave them a fun homework assignment. Tania was very conscientious about doing her best at all the homework assignments. Mama was very proud of her and her teachers were very fond of her. They admired her dedication.
There was just one thing about Tania that irked her teachers. She was very talkative in class. Sometimes she would miss out what the teacher said. But being very bright she was usually able to fill in the gaps herself.
One Wednesday morning, Tania was waiting with Tanisha and Sonali for the school bus to arrive. Sonali said, "I really enjoyed doing the homework assignment. Usually we only get art homework. It was nice to have a creative thinking assignment for a change."
"Homework assignment! What assignment? Is it due today?" said Tania sounding panicked.
"Yes. Miss Gupta gave us an assignment 2 days ago. It is due today." said Tanisha. "Didn't you know?" The school bus arrived and the girls got in.
"No!" said Tania. "What is the assignment? Tell me."
Tanisha replied, "We have to come up with 5 unusual uses of an umbrella. I think you were chatting with Karishma at the end of the class and did not hear Miss Gupta give us the assignment."
"Tanisha please let me copy your assignment" begged Tania.
"What!" said Tanisha shocked. "I can't believe you are saying that."
"That is wrong Tania, and you know it" said Sonali.
"Yes I do. I promise I wont ever ask you to do this again. But please just this once..." said Tania crying.
Tanisha and Sonali looked at each other and finally decided to help out Tania just this once. Just then the bus reached school and the girls stepped out. It was only 8:30 am, and there was still half an hour before class started.
Tania took out a clean sheet of paper and a beautifully sharpened pencil. She carefully copied all of Tanisha's homework. Tanisha had made a neat
list of the 5 entries.
Tania finished copying just a few minutes before class started. She wrote her name at the back of the sheet of paper and turned it in.
The next day Miss Gupta asked Tania and Tanisha to come and talk to her during the break. Tania felt worried and guilty. The two girls walked to the teacher's office together. Miss Gupta said "Obviously one of you has copied the other's homework. Otherwise they would not be identical. Are you going to tell me who and why?"
The guilt weighed Tania down and she confessed. She said "Miss Gupta, I copied Tanisha's homework. I am so sorry."
"But why dear? You usually do such a good job with your homework."
Tania turned red with embarrassment as she said, "I did not hear you assign the homework Miss Gupta. I
was talking to Karishma at the time. Sonali was talking about the assignment at the bus stop yesterday morning. That is when I found out about it. It was too late to do the assignment myself and I really wanted to submit my homework on time. So I copied Tanisha's. She protested but I pleaded with her and she gave in. This is not her fault at all."
"I see", said Miss Gupta. "Tanisha why don't you go back to your break? I need to talk to Tania." Tanisha heaved a sigh of relief and sprinted away.
Miss Gupta continued "Tania the whole point of the homework was to get you to think creatively. Turning it in on time is good but worthless if you just copied it. I would have been disappointed that you did not get it done on time, but when you mess up you should be brave enough to face the consequences. That is what makes you a strong and good person."
"Yes Miss Gupta" said Tania meekly. "I see your point and I promise I wont do it again. I am really very sorry."
"Yes I can see you are truly sorry. Tania, I hope you also learned that it is not a good idea to be distracted and talking in class. That way you miss important things."
"Yes Miss Gupta" said Tania looking very ashamed and glum.
"We all make mistakes Tania. But as long as you learn from them you will do fine. Now cheer up and move on. It is time for your next class." She smiled at Tania and Tania trotted off to her next class.
