This week I’ve made one of the most regretful decisions of my life. Basically, what happened is that I found a Juul (an e-cig device) under my chair in the school library during lunch and I was worried I might get in trouble if they find it and check the cameras seeing I sat there. I decided to sneakily take it and try to dispose of it in the bathroom or give it to some random kid that I could tell was a vaper in the bathroom. It was the worst timing ever because a teacher walked in and saw me try to hand the Juul to the kid and we both got sent to the office. I explained the situation to my vice principal and she believed me. She got the security guard to search for me and everything and I was clean, all I had was a phone and earbuds. However, they said due to school policy I had to get an ISS (in school suspension). They said the only mistake I did was not hand it over to a teacher. The vice principal generally felt bad for me, and completely understood my situation. But she still had to call my parents but she tried her best to make it seem like I wasn’t in trouble. She even told me I wish I could have left you off with a warning, but school policy prevent her from doing so. I asked the security guard and vice principal if this was going to harm my chances with colleges and they said the colleges only see my grades. Also that the only people that can see this is the school and my parents/ I was fine as it wasn’t an illegal drug substance and there was no evidence I even used the Juul. However, I’m still worried that my counselor might report this situation to the colleges and also I heard some colleges ask if you have gotten a disciplinary action. I’m going to try to give my side of the story best as possible but I want to know if my chances can have a negative impact cause of this. Btw if anyone was wondering, I did learn my lesson.
It won’t hurt your chances. You WILL have to disclose it if asked. Colleges, however, are more concerned about whether your actions hurt other students in some way. Naturally they don’t want that kind of liability on their hands. Your situation didn’t hurt anyone, thus isn’t an issue and isn’t going to raise any red flags.
Next time, give the “contraband” to the supervising teacher immediately. Stay squeaky clean the rest of high school, and things will be fine.
That’s good to hear but do you think some colleges may judge me since I didn’t handle the situation properly?
No. You might write that in your explanation, that, thinking back, you realize you could have handled it better, but lesson learned. Colleges will appreciate that you can articulate how you matured from the experience.
The only way this could hurt you would be if you didn’t disclose it and they somehow find out about it later. If you put the details as you’ve explained them here on your app, you’re covering that base.
If they could check the cameras to see that you sat there they could check them to see that you didn’t drop anything under the chair, right? I wouldn’t tell college adcoms that you found it under a chair and tried to hand it off to some unsuspecting kid to keep yourself out of trouble.
^ yeah they already checked the cameras my story checks out. The admins believed me, they wish they had the power to lighten my punishment. Also, I forgot to mention I did tell the vice principal that the kid I was handing it to the kid because he (true story btw) told me to give it to him cause he said it wouldn’t be a good idea to flush it down a toilet or anything. So I guess I went along with it and gave it to him. Looking back though I’m pretty sure that kid just wanted to keep the Juul. Also, as I mentioned I will talk to my counselor about all this, I’m pretty sure he and I have a solid relationship, so he will support me most likely.
If you learn your lesson…like if you see something that doesn’t belong, then go to a staff member and tell them what you found, then you won’t have an issue.