As college students, a laptop is a key component of life – essential for homework, managing email and wasting time in class. It is also essential to have a decent laptop so you do not have to deal with breakdowns or crashes and can continue on your merry way, hassle free. 

Popular options include MacBooks and whatever the newest Windows laptop is. This is not an article for people who own those sort of computers. This is an ode to my horrible, old laptop. 

My laptop, which goes by the name Cinnamon (after my first love), is a Dell Inspiron N4110 – an old, outdated eight pound hunk of Windows capable junk. Some key features of Cinnamon include: a stunning, jet black paint job that is currently chipping away where my left hand resides, a missing “K” key (which went missing right before a Poli-Sci paper on Kim Jong Ill), multiple cracks in the plastic that surrounds the screen, a battery that gets so hot I burn my leg on it, a charging port that caught fire last semester and a fan that hums so loud you can hear it down the hall. These “features” were not exactly what the folks at Dell had in mind when Cinnamon rolled off the production line back in 2011, but they are what makes her unique as she descends into senility and old age.

To say this computer has character is an understatement. The cover looks about the same as the back of a 94 Subaru Outback that has been taken across the country on multiple road trips. There must be at least twenty stickers that make up Cinnamon’s exterior design, all unique and all with purpose. There are clothing brand stickers from when I was a freshman who was trying too hard. There are political stickers from when I worked on the Romney campaign in 2012,  skiing stickers from my various mountain adventures, the obligatory Greek letter sticker, my trusty Dave Matthews sticker and a few that represent my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. In sentimental terms, they document all of the things Cinnamon and I have been through. From spilling a full water bottle on the keyboard freshman year to dropping her from a four foot height last year, this old girl has been through the wars with me, but has bounced back in one piece.

I have penned countless Odyssey articles, letters to hopeful employers, BSed homework assignments, screamed at the screen in frustration over the constantly broken Wi-Fi adapter, watched the Browns lose over 10 games every year of college, watched that guy jump out of that balloon to win free Red Bull, video chatted with my grandparents and documented my general college experience – all with good ol' Cinnamon in my lap.

In the same way sailors trust their compasses, woodsmen their axes and rifles or Purdue engineers their friends study guides, I trust in Cinnamon. No matter what is currently ailing her, she will bounce back just in time to keep Emily Stone off my back on missing an Odyssey submission deadline.

If this article struck a heartstring with you, spend some time with your old laptop. Appreciate it, because one day, it will turn off for good.

As always, regret follwoing me on Twitter @newcheddarwolf.