Out of all the annoying people in the world, such as drivers who drive slow in the fast lane, students who take Advance Placement classes but aren’t actually smart, and people who chew with their mouth open, there is one particular group of people that I cannot stand: people who copy off of my homework.

I understand that we are all guilty of copying an assignment or two from a friend. I personally am guilty of this and have even voluntarily given my homework to a friend so they can copy it. People who don’t realize how hard it is to be a student might call this “dishonest,” but that’s really not the case.

Nobody is perfect and we all deserve a break every once in a while. And in terms of letting your friend copy your homework, there is nothing wrong with helping somebody in need. Isn’t that what every grade-school teacher teaches us? To help those who need it? It could be possible that these teachers were talking about a different kind of situation, but I am choosing to ignore that fact.

It does not annoy me when a friend occasionally asks for my homework when the situation calls for it; it does, however, irritate me when people make a habit out of this. If somebody is constantly asking to copy my homework on a daily basis, I will slowly start to plot their destruction every time they ask.

For example, this year there is a constant group of students who ask me if I did the homework every day I walk into class. As soon as they ask that question, I immediately know what’s coming next. The conversation goes something like this:

“Hey Jessica did you do the homework last night?”

“Yes,” I say, trying hard not to roll my eyes.

“Can I see it?”

“Sure,” I say with the nicest face and voice.

The conversation usually ends with me reluctantly handing over my homework and the student muttering some sort of thank you, but, in my mind, I’m dreaming about gouging their eyes out.

Not only is this infuriating, but it’s also a lose-lose situation for the student and myself. It’s harmful to the student because they are not actually learning anything, and it’s harmful to me because it makes me really angry for the rest of the day.

What annoys me most is that these students are not doing their work because they know someone will allow them to copy the next day. This is basically the definition of taking advantage of someone and I believe this is the worst part of the issue.

Also, I really just don’t understand why these people just can’t do their homework. It’s almost as if they’re allergic to it. The fact is, most high school students hate homework, but we all have to do it anyways. So why do these people feel that they are any different?

Homework is part of every high school student’s daily routine, no matter how tedious and boring it might be. People who simply copy homework should realize that they are no different from everybody else and that constantly asking for work becomes very annoying very quickly. The “constant copy-catters” are just themselves and that’s just the way it is.