This past Tuesday I woke up and went downstairs to find my back door open and my laptop gone from my living room table. I had materials for two class projects plus most of the work from the past two terms on that computer. It was all gone and I was going to have to start all over again. Luckily, my professors were sympathetic and extended deadlines, but it was very disheartening to lose everything.
Thursday morning, I got a voicemail from the police officer who had come out to my house and done the report. He told me that they had recovered my laptop. The first thing I did was power it up and sure enough, all my stuff was still there. Nothing had been erased. I feel pretty lucky, because I know it doesn’t happen this way for a lot of people.
I’ve never been very good about backing up my work, and I almost had to learn the lesson the hard way. Don’t let this happen to you, back up your work! Also, I think I believed that having a police report done was a waste of time and that I’d never get my stuff back. I was wrong, not only did it work, but my experience with the Eugene police was a very positive one. Sometimes I think I don’t check in with the attitudes I hold, until I’m forced to, and it’s always interesting what’s looking back at me when I do.
Steven White
University student