I began university in the autumn of 2019, and like everyone else, my experience changed dramatically when COVID hit. By early 2020, we were all sent home, and every exam that would normally be held in person was suddenly moved online. All assessments became open book, and everything felt chaotic and rushed.
Like most courses, we had a large Facebook group chat where students shared reminders, asked questions, and posted jokes to get through the stress.
When exam season arrived, we were given essay-style questions that were released at a set time. Once you opened the exam, you had a limited window—around three hours—to complete and submit your answers. The university made it very clear that students were not allowed to discuss exam content while the assessment was ongoing.
Despite this, people started posting screenshots and full exam questions into the group chat. Some students who hadn’t even opened their exams yet were clearly planning responses in advance.
During one of the exams, a student spoke up in the chat and said this wasn’t okay. Instead of taking it seriously, several people mocked her for being overly strict and told her to relax.
Without really thinking through the consequences, I did something impulsive. I went to a popular anonymous confession page on Facebook that students followed (it wasn’t officially connected to the university) and submitted a post claiming that I had reported the group chat for academic misconduct. I wrote that the cheating had been flagged and that people involved would likely fail the year.
None of that was true. I hadn’t reported anything at all.
I posted it and went to sleep shortly after.
The next morning, I woke up to chaos. The group chat had exploded with hundreds of messages. People were panicking, arguing, deleting old messages, and accusing each other. Over the next few days, several students who had shared exam questions actually contacted the university themselves—trying to explain or justify what they’d done.
The problem was that the university hadn’t known anything until then.
By reaching out, they effectively exposed themselves.
Weeks later, the university sent an official email addressing academic integrity concerns. I later learned that multiple students didn’t continue the course after that semester.
I still feel awful about it. The fear and panic came from something I made up, and even though I never intended for it to go that far, my lie played a role in what happened. Knowing that people’s education was affected because of a moment of thoughtlessness is something I still carry with me.