The security of keeping rules

I am in a sociology class about religions affect on society (I LOVE it--it's so interesting!!) and we were supposed to write a big paper last week in which we were assigned to study another religion and write up a case study. It was a really important paper for our grade and we were supposed to include some basic information about their beginnings, government, basic beliefs etc. and so since I had no previous knowledge of the church I studied before this paper, I really had to study and understand their official statements of their church before I wrote the paper. Since I knew nothing about them, it would be easy to plagiarize on accident because all the information was completely alien to me. But I went through EVERY extreme to make sure that I did not do this. And I mean every extreme. I turned the paper in hoping to do well. A couple days later I got an e-mail our teacher sent out to the whole class saying that he had come across some instances of plagiarism and that if the people didn't email him about it before 5 the next day he would turn them in and flunk them. Of course I was completely innocent, but my mind started running, afraid out of my mind that I had made some small mistake and may have accidentally done this. I had a little moment of fear, then as I realized that I had a clean conscience I was so grateful for the extra time I put it to make sure this didn't happen. I wrote him an email saying that if I was one of those guilty, it was totally 100% and completely an accident. I received an email from him later stating that I was totally fine and completely not in the wrong and in fact my paper was one of the best and I got a very high A. Through this experience, I realized how incredibly grateful I am for rules and boundaries that if we keep, we will be safe and have a clean conscience. My testimony was strengthened of staying as much as possible on the right side of boundaries because it saves you from heartache that comes from not keeping on the right side (like in this instance those who actually plagiarized risk being kicked out of school). The teacher mentioned that since I tried so hard to avoid it, then that will mean that I am fine in every circumstance (which I was). I realized how true that is. If we try as hard as we can to keep a clean conscience, we will be safe from any negative consequence that comes from being on the wrong side. I love the safety that comes from keeping rules and being on the right side of boundaries as much as possible! And in most cases, like this one, being completely honest pays off like it did with my really high A! A life lesson from school? Who would have thunk! :)

So I also have another confession...I realized today that I have been too concentrated on getting good grades and being a perfect student andI have been at times "too busy" for friends. I feel horrible. Because I have concentrated so much on this, I have completely on accident, allowed some friendships to go on the wayside...opps...I do feel really bad. So this is me apologizing! :) I am sorry that I allowed school to get in the way of things that are so much more important. Now that I am graduating, I seem to be learning all the important lessons to make school less stressful (which has been my single biggest complaint about school)--like not stressing about having a perfectly clean house while being a student, not taking time to enjoy good friendships even when I have homework etc. Well, life is about learning lessons right?

Did I ever tell you that I love anything orange flavored?
Cause I do.
Sorry for randomness, I am enjoying a glass of orange juice right now and just loving it...