I know that honesty is the best policy, but in my opinion, sometimes you just have to lie. What do I mean by that? Let me paint you a picture…
I didn’t graduate from high school, and I lied to my parents by saying that I did, so I wouldn’t get into trouble. I hated high school, so I would often skip class and hangout at a friend’s house until time was just about right to start heading home. My mom would ask “How was school?”, and I would reply with a simple “fine” and left it at that. Evidently those “little trips” of mine eventually caught up with me. When I realized I wasn’t going to graduate, I lied and said that the prom was such an extravagant event that the school didn’t have any money to give a proper ceremony. Strangely enough, my parents bought the excuse. I think it’s because they come from a country where they don’t focus to much on high school graduations, the real celebration is when you get your bachelor’s degree, either way I felt I was home free.
Little did I know I was setting myself up for another problem…college. Even though I didn’t like high school, it didn’t mean that college would have been the same. In the beginning of my senior year of high school, I had already filled out an application to BMCC and was accepted. The problem was that BMCC wanted something I didn’t have…a high school diploma. So I lied again saying that I just took the GED and my diploma should be on its way later that week. They bought it and let me register. I thought that while I was in school I would get my GED and I would be in the clear, but things aren’t always what they seem.
Months passed, and guilt and regret were affecting me emotionally, as well as physically. I couldn’t take it anymore; the restless nights and heavy tension were too much to bear, not to mention the pain in my heart every time I looked at my father and mother, because they were so happy to have their first born daughter in college. Soon it was too late and I couldn’t register for the spring semester because I didn’t have my diploma, so I got a job at the beginning of winter break and decided to tell my father I was going to take a break from school. He nodded and understood and said he was proud of me either way. It was then I realized how stupid this whole lie was. I finally broke down and told my dad the truth. I told him how I didn't graduate and how this whole lie was hurting me so much. He came towards me and embraced me and said "It's okay hija. I knew it, and I had always known. I just wanted you to tell me yourself. I felt that this was something you had to learn on your own." I wonder if this (very powerful) moment could have an even more specific and detailed description--it might work better if you really did "paint us a picture"
That moment made realize how lucky I am to have such a wonderful father, and my mother was just as supportive, but I guess what matter more to me was my father’s reaction, because in some way I still think of myself as “daddy’s little girl”. Telling the truth was a tremendous weight off my shoulders. I finally learned something through this whole dilemma: Sometimes you have to lie…in order to see the truth.
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