A Title Taken

The tricksters walked across the stage where applause echoed as if they had broken a sweat, bled from the freight of expectancy, or grown restless fulfilling the lined-up tasks etched into countless pages. The spotlights brimmed for them, flickering—too bright, burning thousands of eyes with the glare they cast. Ironically, they received congratulations more than one could ever hold.

Their footsteps resonated against the surface, comedy sculptured upon their faces.

A smirk.

A conceited curve of the lips.

A deceiver’s masquerade.

It is a sad reality that between the highest of the high, these thieves lurked within the crowd—sitting with chins held above, wearing luring grins to hide their hypocrisy. Frauds who masked themselves as academic achievers.

“With Highest Honors! With High Honors!”

1:35 P.M.

At that moment, those titles rang far too loudly in my ears. I remained seated as the familiar feeling took hold upon me—the sense of wretched injustice.

Being on top is not sovereignty. It is the pursuit to satisfy, to grasp validation, to feed myself with the fear of red marks on my test papers. And so, every day became a boundless cycle. Each page scrutinized, each concept highlighted, each tear streamed down, and each sleepless night and restless dawn are testaments of my hard work.

Yet somehow, some claimed the title without overcoming storms.

Without tears. Without pressure. Without sacrifice.

It simply reached them as expected news, a result already foreseen, an aftermath they were bent upon. A title stolen even before it was proclaimed.

With dark circles beneath my eyes, I opened the report card. Some grades went down—and that “some” became another weakness carved into my character. It felt like I had lost. Meanwhile, across the line, the defrauders rejoiced over marks achieved, more higher than those earned through labor.

They were praised, crowned with greater glory, and placed atop the honor list I once dominated. Everything crumbled. Academic force was overshadowed by falsehood.

That is it.

On the very same stage, I walked while knowing I made it.

Not through cheating,

but through the excellence I gave.