Relax... my husband is a teacher and he said he and every other teacher he knows would rather know the truth up front. He'd be more than happy to work with you on the lens. If the scratch is on the lens, then maybe someone can fix it - you CAN remove scratches on glass if you go to someone who knows how to do it, and the scratch is not deep. If the scratch is not on the lens and only on the plastic ring, well, don't worry. A teacher won't cry over a scratched piece of plastic!