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Map with arrow pointing towards ITC location

At Dartmouth, students use a myriad of technology for class, ranging from basic spiral notebooks and pencils to iPads and Apple Pencils. One fundamental piece of technology that is necessary, however, are laptops. New students are required to complete basic technology onboarding prior to the first day of classes, and there are specific (although very basic) computer specs you need.

So what does one do when their device stops working in an age of technology? More specifically, what happens when your laptop stops working? 

That's exactly what happened to me my fall term. In late October, my laptop suddenly refused to turn on or charge. Despite me not having purchased my laptop from the Dartmouth Computer Store, the Information Technology Center (ITC) had no problem fixing my laptop. Because I didn't purchase my laptop from the computer store, getting a loaner would mean I would have to pay a fee of $10 for each day I borrowed a loaner. I did not have the means to do that; luckily, my professors were more than accommodating. For example, I talked to my COSC 10 professor, and he let me borrow a Macbook from the Computer Science department for as long as I needed to! I was able to use that laptop for all of my assignments while my laptop was being fixed. Upon being notified that my original laptop was ready for pick up, I was more than happy to return to using my laptop's operating system. 

A few weeks later, my laptop suffered the same problem. I went back to ITC, where they quickly took my device for repairs. Unfortunately, this was during finals week, and I needed a laptop to study for finals and do my last CS problem set. I once again talked to my CS professor, who of course understood and let me borrow a Macbook for that period of time. 

By the time I got my laptop fixed for the second time, it was already winterim. So when my laptop broke for a third time (not again!), I was worried that they wouldn't even take my request, since there was nothing academic going on, and most people were back home for winterim. 

Luckily, that proved not to be the case. Yet another ticket later, ITC fiddled with my laptop again! Third time's the charm, right? So when I got my laptop back, I thought that was the end of it. 

It was…for that specific problem, at least. Not even half an hour later, I came to realize that my laptop was suffering from a different issue! I ran back to the ITC and watched one of the technicians fiddle with my computer. When I finally received my laptop, I was relieved to open it and see that there were no issues whatsoever. 

To this day, my laptop has been fine.

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