Now Playing 🔈
Since very early in my life, I have been surrounded and affected by technology and its innovations. For me, growing up in suburban Houston with a tech savvy father, I had many more opportunities to familiarize and understand these new and crazy technologies than the normal adolescent. My father was what you could say a geek , being that his job involved working with computers and creating technology and programs for a living; our house would always have some of the fastest and newest technology in order to stay in touch with the world and be on top of the oncoming age of information.
My first introduction to technology and the internet was through my dad teaching me how to play video games. From very young my father and I would play these games that mimicked his favorite TV shows and were categorized as Real Time Strategy games. They were great introductions for me to the Internet. We would use our own home set up where my dad had many computers with the game installed, and we would use LAN connection through our house network where he would explain to me how the computers were able to communicate and able to play the games together. From there on, I constantly continued to grow my gaming habits that my father had introduced me to. This in turn allowed me to become very familiar with computers and how to use them. Essentially, having my life from early on revolve around computers.
My next big digital jump was when I reached middle school. Phones were starting to become a social and safety necessity. I personally wasn’t much of a phone fan; until they started coming out with touch screen mobile devices, which were a lot more accessible and friendlier to the inexperienced users. My parents had gifted me a small Samsung touch screen phone for Christmas as my first phone. My parents quickly emphasized to me the phones capabilities of quick communication and how that should be used, especially with them. Memorizing all their numbers was a crucial, and now that I had a phone, I had to communicate with them much more often on what I was doing or what my plans were. I loved the phone, I quickly was able to learn the ins and outs of it and soon had to be helping my mother and sister with any of their technology questions, yet my father was still the master.
Unfortunately, this didn’t last long, I somehow, within a span of 2 years, had to cycle through 3 different phones due to me short circuiting each phone by jumping in to a pool with them in my pocket. Going from my first touch screen phone, I slowly degraded in to a blackberry, then into the pink Motorola Razr . Which at that point, I would say I didn’t even own a phone when my friends asked, too embarrassed to show them my bright pink flip phone.
From there I had learned my lesson, my attention and care for technology became a number one priority. I was able to get my first laptop in high school, in order to do most of my school work, something my parents knew would be essential to the school experience. In high school, I also received my first gaming console, the Xbox 360 (https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one?xr=shellnav). Playing that non-stop in my free time.
Being from the middle class, and having a tech savvy father, I was able to be introduced to a lot of the new technologies on demand. Having this introduction to technology I believe has set me on the path I am, being a Computer Science major, always being surrounded and constantly learning about technology, eventually it had to become interesting .
Arguing The Digital Divide 
I really like your story! I think it’s cool that your experiences with technology growing up were supported by your parents. Do you think that you would have become a totally different person had your father not been so connected to technology? Also, do you feel like you had a strong understanding of technology as you grew up which put you ahead of the curve of those around you? If so, how did they react? Were they fascinated by what you knew or owned, or did they not show as much interest?
You mentioned that you went through 3 phones within two years. Do you ever feel like you took the technology you had for granted? Also, since you spent a lot of time gaming as you grew up, did you ever feel appreciative to be able to experience so many digital realms full of interesting worlds and characters? Did it ever feel like an escape for you? It could be interesting to see how your relationship with technology grew as you did while it slowly integrated with your life.
Since you’re studying to be a computer science major, it may be interesting to explain a future “digital jump,” describing what you’d like to achieve in the future. Maybe your work would have an influence on the digital divide.
Overall, great job! I think there are a lot of ways you can take your paper, so good luck!
–SW
I think that you have the personal aspect of how the internet affected you down well; however, I think you should touch up more on how the different digital divides have affected you. You said that you’re from the middle class, so maybe you could talk about how your status gives you a different perspective or experience when using the internet compared to those who are not in the middle class. -PB
You mention that you had to help your sister and mother when you had a phone. What kind of questions did they have? Why do you think they were struggling compared to you? Were you always the go-to person among your peer to fix technological problems? Another area you could expand upon could be your role as a Computer Science major, and the potential divide that creates. -SS
I think you did a great job of describing how technology has been so prevalent in your life. It is really interesting to see how much of an impact your dad’s job has had on you and your attention and care for technology. With technology being so common in your household, what is your reasoning behind picking Computer Science as your major and not others? Being surrounded and affected by technology your whole life, how do you think those without internet access are affected? Since you have been exposed to technology for so long, do you believe it has opened the door to more opportunities? How does the lack of technology have an effect on one’s potential? –CM