At an early age, Trisha Gonzales learns a valuable lesson about honesty.
I was six years old at the beginning of kindergarten. It was hard for me to communicate with the other kids and I usually sat by myself. When my classmates didn’t take my interest, toys were my favorite to keep me busy. I remember this colorful box of magnets my teacher had to help us learn in the class and they went out loud outside in case they got lost, stolen, etc.
One day I decided I wanted to get a handful of the magnets home and shove them inside my pockets. I thought to myself “My teacher would never notice, it’s just a few.” As the day went on, during our lunchtime, I was outside hula hooping and I had forgotten about them in my pocket. They started to fly out everywhere. While my classmates around, one girl asked, are those the teacher’s magnets? I was shocked and looked down to my empty pockets and the colorful magnets all over the floor. The commotion caught my teacher’s attention and she came over.
I didn’t know how to explain myself because it was clear I had stolen them and the evidence was on the ground. My teacher picked them up and took me back into the class with a stern look on her face. My behavior card was switched from green to red and at that age having that was almost like being a criminal. I was distraught. At the end of class, the teacher called me and said that my parents were going to be informed.
I’d have to wait for them to come into my class so they could have a discussion. My parents were disappointed. They sat me down and told me that wasn’t the right thing to do. It may seem silly, but this experience has taught me that honesty is the best policy. The particular lesson was valuable because I had to face the consequences of my actions. It’s best to learn from mistakes in order to become a better person in the future. With a Perspective, I am Trisha Gonzales.