I was the stereotypical goody two-shoes geek in H.S. One of the upperclassmen in my band section, right before he graduated, gave me a key that had been bequeathed to him by another upperclassmen years before (who knows how that guy got it...). He said it unlocked the door to the wrestling room, which was an out-of-the way room with no window in the door that almost never got used and was ideal for hanging out unnoticed.

I had the idea to skip class once and convinced a few of my band friends to ditch with me and go play euchre in the wrestling room for a couple of periods, which was pretty fun, especially for a 'good kid' like me who no one would have ever thought would do something like that (Honor Society VP, band section leader, lead role in the musicals, taking all the AP classes, normally teacher's pet, etc.).

Wondering what other doors the key might be able to open, I decided to stay after school a couple of days and work my way through trying the doors to other rooms in the school. I discovered that, for some reason, the key also unlocked the door to a Government/Social Studies classroom in a nearby wing to the wrestling area. It was my junior year, and I wasn't taking any classes in that classroom, so there wasn't much use for that knowledge.

Fast forward to the final semester of my senior year of HS, in mid-late May, right before finals. I was in a dead heat with my best friend for being valedictorian. He and I both were taking U.S. Government in that very classroom, taught by a teacher who also happened to also coach track after school. The US Gov final exam was approaching in a few days. I knew the material decently well, but senioritis was setting in, and I was looking for a lazy way out. So, I decided I would snoop around the Gov teacher's classroom after school to look for hints on what the final exam would be like.

After school ended, I waited about a half hour for people to head out and things to die down. All the teachers had left for the day, and their classrooms were dark and locked. I decided it was time to make my move. Scanning the hallway, I quickly unlock the Gov't classroom door and close it behind me, ensuring it is still locked from the outside. I start poking around the teacher's desk area. After about 2-3 minutes of carefully looking through folders and files, I see a folder marked "[My Year] Final Exam". Jackpot! In the room was this big cabinet on wheels that was probably 2/3 as tall as the ceiling, so I snatch up the folder and take it behind the cabinet, so I'm not in view of the windows by the classroom doorway. Inside the folder was the 100-question final exam and also the ScanTron master sheet (the fill-in-the-bubble form that runs through the ScanTron machine to tell the machine what the correct answers are so it can grade the tests).

Suddenly, I hear the jangle of keys (What?), and the turning of the lock (SHITSHITSHIT!), and then the door swings open, and the lights turn on! I had forgotten that the teacher was the track coach and would be staying late for practice! There I am, on the other side of the cabinet from the teacher, holding the final exam and answer key, less than a week from graduating from HS, in the running for valedictorian, on the verge of shitting my pants. I hold my breath and try to stay as still as possible. After a minute (though it seemed like an hour) of him filling a gym bag and putting stuff away, he finally turned off the lights and left, locking the door behind him.

After waiting a few minutes to be sure he was gone, I hastily exited the room with the folder under my arm and headed to the library. I quickly made copies of the answer key, ran back to the room, and planted the folder back where I had found it.

Next, I picked up a handful of blank ScanTron sheets from outside the principal's office door in the teacher's office. I was worried that the teacher might still change the test before giving it on the day of the final. There happened to be two different US Government classes that year - an early one before lunch and a late one in the afternoon. I had two friends who were struggling with their grades in the early Gov't class, so I decided to let them in on my plan. I asked each of them what they wanted to get on the final exam, within reason, and, for each of them, I took a ScanTron sheet and very lightly put a tick mark in the correct bubble of one of the blank ScanTron sheets. On a few of the questions on their sheets, I marked an incorrect bubble, so that they would achieve their desired score, not 100%. Then, at the beginning of the test, they would swap the blank ScanTron sheet they were given by the teacher, for the ScanTron sheet with my barely noticeable markings on it, and "take" the test. After the test, they would report back to me on whether the test seemed to agree with the answer markings.

As it turned out, the test was still the same. One of my friends who had been getting a D in the class pulled an 84% on the final, which prevented him from having to miss graduation and take summer school. I gave myself a 98% on the final, got an A+ in the class, and became valedictorian. My best friend (who I kept out of the scam, because he never would have gone for it) was salutatorian.

Essentially, what I did here was a dick move, all the way around. If I had it to do over again, I would've just studied for the final and gotten whatever grade I deserved, valedictorian or not. I almost threw away everything I had been working hard for in HS (I could have been suspended, would have totally made my parents ashamed, wouldn't have graduated with honors, would have lost my friends and best friend especially, etc.). I did wind up with a pretty good story, but I can't tell it to anyone (and haven't until today), because I acted like a real asshole and am embarrassed at myself. It wasn't worth it, and I regret it.

Learn from my mistake - winning doesn't feel good if you don't earn it fair and square.

TL;DR: I sacrificed my ethics to become valedictorian, stealing a final exam. I didn't get caught, but it still wasn't worth it.