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Campus Horror Story: When the Wifi Fails

Kendall Lake Student Contributor, University of Georgia
UGA Contributor Student Contributor, University of Georgia
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UGA chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

It’s October. There’s a chill in the air, crisp leaves on the ground, and a ton of work to be done. 

You’ve spent the last six hours on your futon as you try your best not to fall asleep. You have cozy socks on your feet and a fuzzy blanket wrapped around yourself, but your faithful Keurig has helped you keep your focus. To your left, you have a dog-eared paperback book, an outline hastily scrawled on notebook paper, and the instructions for the assignment due at midnight.

You’re running out of time.

Your MacBook fills the dimly lit room with a soft glow as you hack away at the essay. You type and type as you watch the wordcount climb, but you know you’re going to just barely make it.

Finally, you come up with a conclusion paragraph that does not sound completely awful. You save the paper, then try to open eLC.

It’s 11:57, and PAWS-Secure won’t load.

 

Your eyes widen in horror as you realize what is happening, You hastily click refresh over and over again, but to no avail. Maybe the four cups of coffee were an awful idea, you think to yourself as you frantically tug at your hair. Anxiety builds in the pit of your stomach as you try and try. 

It’s 11:58. Your palms begin to sweat over your MacBook trackpad, so you wipe it off…losing precious refresh time. At this point, you are filled with panic and overcome with frustration for PAWS-Secure. For a moment, you even briefly consider whether the wifi at your second-choice school is any better; however, that thought is even more dark and tragic than the current scenario, so you push it away as soon as it arrives. And you hit refresh again.

At 11:59, it finally goes through. Your paper is submitted. PAWS-Secure may have given you a scare, but you won the battle. This time. Your six hours of work paid off, and finally, you can relax with some Netflix.

Or…not.

Kendall is pursuing a bachelors in journalism and a masters in emerging media in at the University of Georgia. After joining Her Campus UGA in the fall of 2015, she became one of the team's Campus Correspondents in fall 2016. During this time, HC UGA has flourished, moving from the Bronze level all the way to Pink, and it has been selected for national partnerships including the Her Campus Tour in 2018. Kendall hopes to someday work in the intersection of technology and journalism, and she adores books, travel, volunteering, and the color teal.