TOD
I still have my HS School Year Book and Class pin.
I also have my infamous 18 hour, 2000 word original research paper on the Monroe Doctrine.
The paper was a term assignment in 10th Grade History. In my usual don't do today what you can do tommow mode, I waited until the very last day. I spent the afternoon at the Library checking out a raft of reference books. I then went home and earmarked with paper slips all the applicable references I could find. Based on the available data, I created an outline and annotated the paper slips with a Topic Code. I then sat down at my typewriter and read each topic's selections and paraphrased them for the report. This endeavor carried me until 10 AM the day the report was due. Mom agreed to take the bus to school and hand deliver the report so I could get some sleep. I hastily composed a one page introduction and sent Mom on her way.
A few days later the History Prof called me to his office with "questions about originality". Oh-Uh - here's trouble. He said he was certain some of the paper was plagiarized but he could find no proof. It seems he had no trouble with the body of the report, but said the introduction was too professional and had to have been copied from somewhere, but try as he could, he could not find out where. I had little difficulty swearing that the Introduction was, in fact, my own work - but I'm sure he disbelieved me.
He awarded the paper an A Minus.
I retyped the paper my senior year in college and submitted it for a solid A.
I guess writings improve with age.
der Brucer