Feel Free to critque all you want. Also does the essay answer the question and if so, to what extent? Thank you in advance
It was the beginning of my freshman year in high school. My friends and I were talking about how we spent our summer as we waited for our teacher to arrive. A quarter of the period passed and the teacher had still not arrived to class. One of my friends then took out a handball and proposed that we roll it around to each other until the teacher came. I decided to go with the idea, but what started out as a simple game of rolling the handball turned into a game of catch that would get us in trouble. We threw it back and forth for a while. The teacher suddenly popped inside the classroom. As the teacher came in, the thrown ball landed right into my friend's hand.
The teacher was shocked and infuriated by the fact that students were throwing a handball inside the classroom. He told my friend that the handball can cause injuries and damage school property. He asked my friend a couple of questions about his actions and then he finally asked "Who was also playing with you?" I was afraid that my friend would tell the teacher that I was playing, but as soon as he was asked the question, my friend immediately said "No one". I was relieved that my name had not been mentioned but the teacher obviously knew he was lying and told him that he will get punished for playing with the handball and for refusing to tell him who else was playing. My friend was not fazed by what the teacher had said and he still would not tell. I thought to myself "What a brave and reliable friend I have", but a question then came to my mind: What kind of friend am I?
The question created a mind-boggling struggle inside me. I have never received a misbehavior letter, and I definitely did not want to start my high school career with one so I wanted to stay quiet. At the same time, I would feel like a traitor if I left my friend take the blame for me as I stayed quiet and did nothing. I didn't like either option, but I had to choose one. In the end, I decided to go and tell the teacher that I was the one playing catch with my friend. I thought that I eventually would get over the misbehavior letter, but getting over being a coward and an unreliable friend would have been difficult. After I told the teacher that it was me, a smile appeared on his face. The teacher was proud that I had told the truth. He decided to pretend the situation never happened. He said that this time would serve as a warning and nothing would be reported.
This situation left me content and proud of myself because of the many benefits I reaped from it. I learned that honesty is really the best policy and that cowardice does nothing but create problems. I was able to prove to myself and to those around me that I am reliable, and this situation helped strengthen the camaraderie between me and my friend. Lastly, because I told the truth, I was able to get myself and my friend out of trouble. As I look back to this, I believe that I couldn't have solved the situation in any better way.
Hi! Although this does answer the prompt, you need to add more deepness to it. Try to combine the story of the ball tossing and make it shorter, so you can talk about how you realized that very small choices could have bigger implications. You can refer to how that small incident led to a stronger friendship, and led to realize that you will not comprise your values under any circumstance. Draw a conclusion that shows how you look at life and how you are ready to meet the ethical problems in the future.
I don't think Macaulay will like this essay, I mean anyone could have written it. Sorry but I can't come up with any tip to improve this essay, maybe you can write about something else deeper that makes more connections to the audience?
