Sucks how this can change peoples lives. I was accused of plagiarism in HS, with no proof, and no recourse. Then a brown out happened mid class and the teacher accused me of somehow organizing it to take out the computers without saving so the “evidence” was wiped (?).

School counselor said he knew school wasn’t for me because my best friend had just tried to commit suicide, so as a kindness he would transfer me to an “alternative” school (again wtf).

New school administrators heard of my reputation and why I was sent to them, so when we went on a school trip to Canada, and somebody smoked weed in a hotel room, they accused me. Turned out to be a girl with cancer, but because I was seen nearby (??) they suspended me anyways during senior finals, “for my own good”. Effectively they kicked me out without a diploma.

I was a quiet kid who never spoke up for myself and just rolled with it because adults always hit harder if I spoke up. Seeing kids now have access to advice like this is great, but at the same time makes me pretty bitter about my own experience.

In the end after I went to a community college where nobody knew me or had preconceived ideas of who I was, so I excelled, and eventually got into a great university, with achievement scholarships, and have been employed with great names of my industry since. Proved them all wrong, but lost a good 15 years, and feel that lag constantly.