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| Home >> Index Pages >> Informational Pages >> Discount Computer Systems >> News >> Applicants of Scholarship 2008 >> |
Essay by Corinne BrownDirectron Scholarship 2008 Essay No. 06by Corinne Brown Current School: Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, Oregon Current Major: Accounting Graduating from high school was quite a stir at my house, partially because of all the pre-graduation stuff before that (as in choosing colors, ordering robes and invitations, going to senior meetings, raising money for the senior trip, talking about life after high school, college plans, etc.), not to mention that I had won a couple of scholarships before hand (and I was in the running for even more scholarships) and I knew what I would be doing in the fall, going to community college. But the real stir for me began when I received my graduation present: an HP laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium. Not a car, because I didn't have a license or job, but a laptop. No one was expecting me to get a laptop, not even me, because I had heard of laptops, but wasn't really interested in one because they were so expensive. In fact, I was exhausted from the graduation festivities, giddy from winning more scholarships at graduation and thinking of the senior trip, (where I won a quilt from the pre-senior trip all-night party from a drawing), so I wasn't thinking about graduation gifts to be honest. Now up to this point, I was forced to go on my younger brother's computer for my Internet fix, much to my brother's annoyance, because I would be on his computer a lot, but the laptop would allow me to have my Internet fix on my computer, which he was happy about. However, the laptop also made him envious because he was always impressed with gadgets and my laptop was top-of-the-line, while his computer was a hand-me-down from our dad. So what? I was the graduate, not him. Besides, he would get to graduate next year. But my brother also helped me set it up, because he was the computer fixer at our house and I didn't know about computer set-up. That went off without a hitch. What I didn't know was that new computers are pre-installed with trial editions of products. Up to this point, I had used library computers, my brother's computer, my dad's computer, or the school's computers, but not my own. The trial product that was going to expire in 60 days was the Norton Internet Security. Obviously, I didn't think about it until the trial was almost up, but fortunately, I had a new subscription as a gift that someone else bought, but came separately from the laptop. Figuring out how to activate my new subscription became a problem. At first, I thought I could "tie the two together". However, it became obvious that removing the old one and installing the new one would work much better. First, however, I had to find out how to remove the old trial edition. Fortunately, I found out through an Internet search how, which was by the Norton Removal Tool. However, I didn't want to wreck my present, so I called customer service for help on how to install and use the Norton Removal Tool. Let's just say that I respect hard-working people that try their best, but when English isn't their first language, when there's a thick accent involved, and you're on a phone line (because if it was face-to-face or via chat, it's easier to ask the person to repeat or slow down since you're face-to-face and with chat, you see the chat on the computer with your eyes), it's a problem trying to figure out what they're saying because of the accent, which was frustrating, but I knew that it wasn't their fault. I would explain my problem, then they would ask me for the product key, and I would spell it out like, "S is for Sam, C is for Cat...", so that they would understand, so that they could help me accurately. My brother thought this was funny. Yeah, like you try talking to customer service representatives when English isn't their first language over a phone line, because frankly, you would have had a hard time understanding too. Then I switched to email, which took a while because I had to explain the problem and I had to wait for the emails to come, not to mention that the Norton email help had to figure out what I was asking them, which they finally figured out that I was asking them how to install and use the Norton Removal Tool. I used the Norton Removal Tool to remove the old expired trial edition, installed the new subscription that I had received as a gift, and it worked like a charm. Now that I have an understanding of Norton, I know what to do: buy the latest Norton, use the Norton Removal Tool (with Norton's help) to remove the old trial edition, and install the new one. Plus, I only do it once a year. Norton does much of the rest, with LiveUpdates and scans. Plus, it alerts you to websites whose security certificates have gone bad or are questionable. After my mess with Norton, it has been relatively smooth sailing from that point, although I am still learning new things about my laptop. One thing that I recently learned about was the Disk Cleanup feature can also delete information from programs that haven't been modified in a week, which was great because I was wondering why my laptop was so slow. The Disk Cleanup, which deletes Internet buildup, deletes program buildup too. (I learned about Disk Cleanup in the first place from my brother.) To tell you the truth, the laptop has been a great thing. (Originally, the laptop was for college, but with my college's computer lab and me riding the bus, not to mention that my books and supplies were heavy enough and the laptop bag was even heavier than my books, taking the laptop wasn't practical. Plus I feared it would get lost or stolen.) Not only I can get my Internet fix after my brother has gone to bed now, I can keep much of my private Internet stuff private, which I couldn't really do before. However, once I get on my laptop, I just lose track of time, and it's annoying for me to stop when it's bedtime. I've also like that my Internet is much smoother on my state-of-the-line laptop, rather than my brother's hand-me-down computer. (As for my dad's computer, he mainly uses it for his personal business and he's possessive about it, so I prefer to use mine or my brother's instead.) So frankly, my laptop journey has been quite good. I'm a first-year accounting student now at college, and I'm doing great. Chances are, I will use my laptop for college someday, but then I would have to replace the trial editions to Microsoft Office 2007, which frankly, I'm just not in the mood yet. Besides, I had a mess with Norton. Who knows what I'll get next for a graduation present? Maybe a BlackBerry, or an iPhone. But I don't think too much about graduation gifts. I'm thinking about my classes instead. And when I do graduate from college in 2010 with my AAS in Accounting, it will be a fun occasion, because not only will I have succeeded in getting a degree, but I will be ready at that point to take on a job in the entry-level accounting field, which to me is a step into entering the business world, which I want to do. So here I leave, ending my story about acquiring and dealing with my laptop. I hope that I have done a good job representing myself as a scholarship applicant. References: | Directron.com College Scholarship | |
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