Another exciting event that happened within my first month here was losing my wallet in the library. On Friday’s, I usually spend my afternoons in the library working on my lab report because I only have one morning class. I bring my laptop and a drink and go to one of the remote corners of the library to be alone. On this particular Friday I was multitasking and had some other papers that needed to be printed. So after working on my lab for about an hour, I packed up my stuff and headed to the bathroom for a quick break. From there, I found one of the library computer stations so I could print out what I needed. After that, I went back up to my little area to finish my lab report. I finished it in a couple hours and realized I was missing something as I was packing up.

Back then, I kept my Purple Plu$ and key on my Vera Bradley wallet. I cleared the table and then started searching all the pockets in my book bag for where I might have thrown it in during the entire shuffle. Soon I realized it was nowhere to be found! So I tried to remember the last time I had it. I was pretty sure I had it up until I went to the bathroom, then after that I couldn’t remember. I tried back tracking my steps: checked the floor around the desk I was at, asked if the reference person if someone turned it in and checked the bathroom. It wasn’t in any of those places though, but I continued to search a few more times just because I couldn’t think of where else it would be. Clearly, I had forgotten about going to the computers to print, because not once did it cross my mind to go check there. So next I tried to see if anyone from the actual circulation desk saw or turned it in. They had nothing, but suggested I call campus security or check the information desk in HPCC. This literally could not have happened at a worse day, though. It was 3:30 p.m. and I was scheduled to leave for a high school football game at my friend’s old school at 4 p.m. sharp. So with that looming, it made me even more stressed to find it!

I started walking toward my dorm to get the number for campus security and called my friend to let her know the situation. I told her I didn’t know if I’d be able to go or not because I felt like I needed to figure out where my wallet was first because it literally had all my cards, Purple Plu$, money and keys. She said to just try my best to locate it and if I needed a few extra minutes it was OK, but I knew she had a tight time schedule to stick to because of a hair appointment she had scheduled at home. I called campus security in my friend’s room but they said no one had turned anything in. So I set off to my last hope, the information desk. As I was walking in, I ran into my roommate luckily, so I could get into our room. We both went to the Information Desk and they said they didn’t have it. The lady asked if I wanted to report it stolen, basically freeze it for the weekend, but in the end I didn’t do that due to an instinctual gut feeling. She said she could get me a temporary Purple Plu$ card though so I could get into my dorm, which took care of half of the problem. My roommate and I made our way back to our dorm after I got my temporary card and it was five minutes before 4 p.m. I was prepared to tell my friend I’d have to miss out on our trip. On the way, my roommate asked questions about the situation and where I had already looked and suddenly I remembered how I had been at the computers but didn’t check there. I immediately told her that I thought I knew where it was but if I was to be ready by four I wouldn’t be able to go and check. My roommate graciously volunteered to go check while I got ready to leave and if she found it she would just put it on my desk. At this point, I was feeling a wave of relief because I was pretty confident she would find it there and I would be able to still go with my friend to the football game. I got ready while she set off for the library and right as we were pulling out of the parking lot she called me and said she had it. I can’t even express how happy I was at that point and how grateful I was that she went to check for me!

Thus concludes the case of the missing wallet, with everything as it should be.