First-time guilt: Is it okay to buy an essay just this once?

[PeterBar]

I'm a sophomore, and I've never done anything like this before. I pride myself on my grades, but this semester has hit me like a truck. I have two midterms, a lab report, and a part-time job, and I'm genuinely drowning. I'm considering going to a website and just... buying a 5-page essay for my easiest class. The guilt is already eating me alive. I keep thinking, 'What if my parents find out? What if I get expelled?' But then I look at my to-do list and I feel physically ill. Has anyone else been through this 'first-time guilt'? How did you justify it to yourself? Or did you decide not to, and how did you survive?

 

[OwenStark]

I did it once. Paid $150 for a philosophy paper. It came back with a B, and I spent the whole semester terrified someone would find out. The professor never said anything, but I felt like a fraud in every class discussion. I couldn't even enjoy the grade because I knew I didn't earn it.

The guilt doesn't go away after you buy it. It just changes form. Save yourself the anxiety. Write something yourself, even if it's bad. The relief of being done with YOUR work is better than the dread of being caught with someone else's.