Describe a time a friend helped you

I want to talk about my friend Thao. We were in the same class at university in Ho Chi Minh City, and we became friends in the first year because we always sat together in the library.

It happened in my last year. Two days before the deadline of my thesis, I was coming home by bus and someone stole my bag, with my laptop inside. All my work was in that laptop and I didn't have a backup. I was very panic, I couldn't stop crying and I really thought I will fail the whole degree.

Thao came to my room the same evening. She told me don't worry and she lend me her own laptop, even though she needed it for her own work. Luckily I had sent some chapters to my supervisor before, and I also had photos of my notes on my phone, so we stayed awake all the night and typed everything again. She gave me a big help, honestly, because she is much faster than me at typing.

Afterwards I felt very grateful, but also a bit guilty, because she didn't sleep before her own exam. Now I always save my files online, and I think our friendship is more stronger than before.

This was back in my final year at university in Ho Chi Minh City, and the friend was Thao, who I'd shared a desk with in the library since our first week.

Two days before my thesis was due, I was on a crowded bus home when somebody slashed my bag and took my laptop. Stupidly, I'd never backed anything up, so it felt as if four months of work had simply vanished. I remember sitting on the kerb outside my building, completely numb, convinced I'd have to repeat the whole year.

Thao turned up within an hour with her own laptop under her arm and a bag of bánh mì. She had an exam of her own on that week, but she just said, 'We'll sort it out,' and refused to discuss it any further. It turned out I'd emailed three chapters to my supervisor, and I had photos of most of my handwritten notes, so we spent the whole night piecing it back together. She typed while I dictated, and every couple of hours she'd make me stop and drink something.

We handed it in with about twenty minutes to spare. Afterwards I felt an enormous sense of relief, obviously, but also a nagging guilt, because she went into her exam on two hours' sleep. It taught me two things: to back up everything, and that I'd underestimated how much she cared about me. We've been inseparable since then.

I'll tell you about the night my friend Thao more or less rescued my degree. We'd met in the first week of university in Ho Chi Minh City, both hiding in the same corner of the library, and by the final year she was the person I'd call before anyone else.

The situation was this: two days before my thesis deadline, someone cut open my bag on a packed bus and made off with my laptop. Like an idiot, I'd never backed up a single file, so as far as I was concerned four months of research had just evaporated. I rang her from the side of the road, barely able to get the words out.

She was at my door within the hour, laptop in one hand and a bag of bánh mì in the other, and she flatly refused to talk about her own exam, which was that Friday. Once I'd calmed down, we realised things weren't quite as hopeless as they looked: I'd emailed three chapters to my supervisor, and I'd photographed most of my notes. So we pulled an all-nighter, me dictating, her typing at a frankly alarming speed, and she kept forcing tea on me whenever I started to flag.

We submitted it with twenty minutes to spare. What I felt afterwards was a strange mixture: overwhelming relief, of course, but also guilt, since she sat her exam on next to no sleep. More than anything, though, it made me realise I'd been taking her for granted. These days I back up everything twice, and I make a point of being there whenever she needs someone.