I Plagiarized in University

 I got caught plagiarizing in university. Result: I had to re-write that one submission. It was only plagiarizing from my lab partner, but still. (One of us drove the lab setup, the other did the written assignment.) Lesson: everyone plagiarizes in university. Nobody genuinely cares. "Don't be so obvious about it, lol." 

 Naturally the resubmission was also plagiarized.
Mortal rules are for other people.

 It might be because I wasn't at an Ivy. Not American after all - I was at the top-ranked local university, rather than going international.
 It's probably more down to who you are. I come across as charming and high-status in person, so folk give me the benefit of the doubt and generally try not to get on my bad side. Assuming I'm also humble, lol. As soon as I heard we were being called into the office for plagiarism, I knew it wasn't going to be a big deal. I told my lab partner nothing would come of it. (Freaking out because plagiarism!!!1! of course. No political savvy at all /shake.) This is simply how it works for me - I get off even if I genuinely break the rules. I don't have to take responsibility for anything if I don't want to. If I had crossed some state lines and shot some folk at Kenosha, the cops probably wouldn't even have arrested me, and if they had it would be dropped before trial. Though perhaps this is precisely because I'm the kind of person who isn't nearly stupid enough to deliberately crash a party riot in the first place. I don't have a [get in trouble] phenotype, and authority figures and criminals can tell by looking. It's more of a get you in trouble phenotype.

 The best part was the TA took us outside the shared office and closed the door for plausible deniability. Then someone walked past and they had to awkwardly giggle while we waited for pedestrian to vacate the premises. 

 Can you imagine? You're walking to your office, and you see a semi-authority figure giggling at a pair of students. Neither say any words until you've beyond the corner. Lmao. Like, okay, 5th taken, but....

 So yes, no. Nobody cares if you plagiarize in university. You do not get in trouble for being a plagiarist. You get in trouble for being clumsy and awkward or having low class.

 

 Perhaps the reason I don't get in trouble for plagiarism is because unless I plagiarize a whole work, it's not any easier than writing it myself. You can slap someone else's words in the middle of yours, but the stylistic seams are immediately obvious unless you massage both sides...and at that point you've spent too much effort on this. And plagiarizing a whole work is pointless, I'll copy the link and say 'read this.' I would never do it [for real] simply because it's not profitable - and you can tell that's what I'm like without asking. 

  If you meet someone with a get-away-with-it phenotype, don't waste your time trying to get them in trouble. You have better things to do. Remind yourself of them. Maybe spend some time building a fence to keep them out, then put them out of your mind. 

 Perhaps instead you yourself the kind of person who can just get away with things. Have you tried it? Don't be afraid of the rules if you don't absolutely have to be.