But, Professor, My Computer Crashed!

In over 30 years of working with computers in education and elsewhere, I can predict one sure thing: at some crucial moment while you're finishing something that you've worked very hard on that is due very soon, your equipment will malfunction. There are some simple precautions you can take to avoid this inevitability from becoming a complete disaster.

• If it's important, back it up. Even if it's not so important, back it up anyway. The best habit any user of data can develop is that of having a scheduled time to do backups to safe and secure places. It's also important to do frequent backups when you're working on major projects like a research paper, a take home final, or a presentation. If you rely on a flash drive, back it up to your hard drive. If you rely on your hard drive, back up key elements to a flash drive. Back both of them up to a server if you have access to one or sign up for one of the many cloud-based services to cover your data's back. The more intensely you're working on a task, the more frequently you should back it up. 

• Having an equipment backup plan can save you a lot of stress. If you own more than one computer, make sure they all have the software you use the most installed and updated. If you don't have multiple computers, you still have options. Be aware of which friends and family members have equipment you can rely upon in a pinch. Keep in mind that your college or university has computers and printers available for students, and so do most public libraries. 

• Flash drives (also known as thumb drives, keys, and several other names) are your friends. When flash drives first came on the market, they were quite expensive and had a limited capacity. I cannot recall exactly what my first one cost (I believe it was over $60), but I do know it was a paltry 256 MB. That's right, megabytes. My newest flash drive is 32 generous GB and cost all of $20 at a chain office supply store. I've seen simple 8 GB flash drives for as little as $5. At that price, it's worth having a few of them to help ensure your piece of mind (that is, as long as you can keep track of them). Not only are flash drives invaluable for backup purposes, they give your files incredible portability to and from a wide variety of devices and can really be essential in recovering from a computer crash.

• Print and save rough drafts of your work. Hold on to all those versions of your work until the final project is safely turned in. You never know at what point that your equipment may fail, so having an old school safety net like printed copies may be your only hope of recovery at times. If you don’t have ready access to a printer, make those multiple email addresses useful and send rough drafts to yourself. This was a trick that I used to avoid frantic teaching moments without my lecture materials in the olden days before flash drives existed, because a file you saved on a floppy disk at home was not always readable by computers elsewhere. 

These tips have saved me from disaster many times both as a student and as an instructor. Modifying your computer habits just a bit can result in saving your sanity big time should your computer crash at the worst possible moment.

Dealing Appropriately with Unforeseen Circumstances

Life happens while students are pursuing their educational goals, and sometimes life hands us circumstances which hold us back from doing our best at our studies. If you should encounter unforeseen emergency circumstances which will take you out of the classroom for a while, here are some strategies for dealing with the situation constructively.

• Contact your instructors immediately and be honest about your emergency situation. You do not need to tell your instructor any overly personal details, but do explain the scope and seriousness of what is going on, and provide an estimate of how long you expect to be out of class. Do not be offended if your instructor asks you to provide some sort of documentation; this is standard procedure at nearly every college and university.

• Notify your academic advisor so that he or she can direct you to further assistance from other college personnel or student services. We are here to help you in any way we can.

• Be willing to accept recommendations to drop classes or take incompletes if your absence from classes is going to be extensive.

• Be realistic about your abilities to bounce back from your absence within the time left in the semester. Some emergency circumstances (medical situations in particular) may take a lot longer for you to return to the classroom than anticipated.

• While you are out of the classroom dealing with the emergency situation, stay in touch with your academic advisor and instructors to update them on how things are going and when you plan to return.