<p>I recently hacked the computer of my professor and copied the homeworks (2) of another student and submitted them as mine. I did login from his account and changed my grades too. But then I reverted them to how it was before.</p>
<p>Now, I am really sorry for what I did. I have a hearing soon. I was having sucidal thoughts, so I recently went to a counselor. After he diagnosed me and a long Q&A, he recommended me to go see a psychiatrist. Because, I may have Bipolar disorder. If you dont know what it is -<br>
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder (historically known as manic-depressive disorder) is a psychiatric diagnosis for a mood disorder in which people experience disruptive mood swings. These encompass a frenzied state known as mania (or hypomania) usually alternated with symptoms of depression. Bipolar disorder is defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or more depressive episodes.</p>
<p>Now, I wrote a letter of apology. I said how sorry I am and what I did is because of this illness. Instead of telling them how much I lost in the last one month, I am telling what I plan to do if not suspended. That is, see a psychiatrist and get this disorder treated. Promise to be in my best behavior. Will do community service if need, I will even change my major if needed. But I need just a second chance to prove myself.</p>
<p>What do you think are my chances of not getting suspended? Is there anything else I should be doing?</p>
<p>Well with Bipolar disorder, there are stages when the brain performs many disruptive actions. I have done few in the past but they were on much much smaller scale. Depression is what comes afterwards a situation like this. And of course happens to me quite often.</p>
<p>Your chances certainly do not look good. Not only was it reprehensible, but you are lucky you aren’t being charged with a crime.</p>
<p>That being said, since CC is the place to provide the best advice, there are two ways you can go about the hearing.</p>
<p>a)Say it was due to bipolar disorder, yada, yada, yada. This is not likely to be entirely believed.
b)Just an idea, but maybe you can say it was because you wanted to show system vulnerabilities. You did revert the grades to how they were before, so if it is true, you may be able to tell them that you were doing it to expose the weakness in computer security. </p>
<p>Or combine the two and say that the bipolar disorder gave you the inane idea to hack the system to uncover security issues.</p>
<p>With all due respect to your newly diagnosed condition, you committed a really egregious act. It is difficult to even believe that this is the first time you have ever done something similar. (I note that you did not even claimit as your first time in your post.)</p>
<p>You were caught; you weren’t suffering pangs of guilt and confessed.</p>
<p>Too many times in my experience, the words “sorry” come after the person is caught and really means “so sorry I was caught.”</p>
<p>If your really serious about changing, take the next two years to get treatment and get better. School is always going to be there to conquer once you have a handle on your illness.</p>
<p>This isn’t what you want to hear, but a suspension would be the appropriate action, though it might not be 2 years. The time off would give you time to get treatment, and stabilize - treatment for any type of neurological disorder takes time. There is no cure, and treatment is not like simply turning it off.</p>
<p>Your second chance is the ability to return after the suspension. Many schools would expel you for that kind of action.</p>
<p>Well I can always take the suspension. I know I made a mistake and deserve a punishment. But this suspension will ruin everything. because i am an international student here in the US. And yes I am very much sorry. I even resigned from the job. Because I violated rights and policies of that job as well (much before the hearing was announced, but after I was caught).</p>
<p>Will it still help now? Because, I am willing to take punishment but I cant on the cost of my career.</p>
<p>I don’t know. It could either be they’d sympathize very much, and let you stay and you’d get some other punishment. Or, they may feel since you’re mentally ‘unstable’ and also international it wouldn’t be best for you to stay. How many years of work have you completed so far?</p>
<p>If you’re here on a student visa, you will have to leave once they suspend you, because you will not have student status. You might want to look into converting your visa in order to stay for treatment. Otherwise, you may need to find a psychiatrist in your home country. I don’t know if you can have your visa suspended, or if you would need a new visa to return. But if you need a new visa, you need to know your legal situation - if this is reported as a crime outside the university, you will have a criminal record, and that could keep you from returning with a student visa.</p>
<p>Your condition might be considered a mitigating factor, but what you did is serious. Consider yourself lucky they haven’t already pressed charges.</p>
<p>I know I have to leave US if I am suspended. And no my visa wont be suspended. But if I am not enrolled in a college I cant finish the graduation. And thats what I am worried about.</p>
<p>Yes, I consider myself lucky. but then I am taking full responsibility for what I did and need a second chance to fix all the mess I created.</p>
<p>You should have thought about the possible consequences before you committed the act. Plenty of people with Bipolar disorder live by the book and don’t hack professors computers, etc. I think you are using the illness as an excuse. I’m sure you will be able to find some sort of career in your own country.</p>
<p>Oh sweetheart.
Bipolar condition isn’t something you are cured of. It will be a battle for the rest of your life. Yes, there are medications, but you have to do the rest of the work, and while it can get easier you never recover and get cured. It doesn’t work that way.</p>
<p>I would not be surprised if the school administration considered your sudden need for psychiatric care a dodge to avoid consequences for your actions. </p>
<p>As in, they may quite logically believe that if you had not been caught hacking the computer system, taking another’s work and submitting it as your own, and changing your grades (I am sure for the better), you would not be running to a psychiatrist right now. Instead you would be congratulating yourself on your skill and genius.</p>
<p>If you are expelled (and, actually, I think you should be…there are a lot of students, American and foreign, who would like your slot and would not hack university computer systems and commit academic fraud), go home and pursue your academic career with a fresh start at a school in your own country.</p>
<p>Well you see, if not this incident then may be some other incident would have led me to a psychiatrist and then I would have found out. But since, I have found out now, all I asking for a second chance to make myself a better human.</p>
<p>And I am sorry you think my seat would have been a much better use by some other kid. But hey, US has over 4000 colleges. There are plenty of seats. But then there are plenty of students/kids/teens in the US who “decide not to pursue a college education”. So blaming me for this, might not be a good idea ;)l</p>