When I look back at my life, I see that writing has taken a big role on the person that I am. I remember starting off with crayon and some scrap paper, and now I barely see myself writing with a pen or pencil. If I have any work to be finished, I will always be seen around a computer. I guess nowadays I rely more on the computer than I can rely on myself. Digital technologies have taken over my life!
When I was younger, I remember my parents having to force me to write. They would always make me write the alphabet and a lot of random sentences. I would always refuse and go run upstairs and watch television. I didn’t mind reading books when I was younger, but I hated to write. My favorite author was Dr. Suess. I loved reading his books. My parents never had to force me to read. I loved looking at the pictures, and how I was able to picture myself actually being in the story.
When I entered elementary school, I started to like writing a lot more. I enjoyed writing stories. I loved writing imaginary stories. I thought they were really fun and creative. I never really cared about how sloppy I was, I just felt free. When I was in third grade, I started to learn how to write in cursive. I thought it was pretty awesome but then I found out that I always had to use it. From third to fifth grade, it was necessary to know how to write in cursive. Teachers would not allow any papers with out cursive. My cursive was really sloppy and I didn’t get the point of it. Cursive ruined writing for me. I realized that as I grew older there were more rules to follow. I wasn’t able to write my superhero fantasies any more. I felt like teachers had taken advantage of my writing freedom. I am over exaggerating; I understand teachers have to do what they are told.
I got my first computer when I was in the third grade. I didn’t really have to do any school work on it. All I did on the computer was play games and use Microsoft paint. I also used the Encarta encyclopedia. I used it for almost all my projects I did for school. I did not have the internet until I entered middle school. The first time I typed up an essay was in the middle of the fifth grade. I was so excited. It made my writing seem official. It also made it look really neat and professional. I loved how the word processor would correct all my mistakes. When I would hand write something I would always have some unintelligent mistakes. Typing my essays on the computer allowed me to get rid of some of the brain farts in my writing. Being able to write on the computer brought writing back in to my life; not that it ever left.
As I grew older and entered middle school, my parents started to dwindle away from my school work. That meant I had to study on my own, and I also had to become more responsible. My parents stopped checking my homework, and stopped asking me for test grades. I was pretty much on my own. All they wanted to see was my report card. If I needed help, my parents were always there, but my parents also bought me a new best friend: the internet.
America Online! I finally got an internet service when I was in 6th grade. After many years of convincing my dad, we finally got America Online. I was inseparable from the computer. The internet opened up many doors for me. I started relying on the internet to get most of homework and projects done. School was getting a lot more demanding. Different teachers had different expectations. I knew it was going to be hard to get through middle school alone. I would be online for hours doing homework, chatting with friends through instant messenger, and also doing research on popular music and movies. My parents hated the internet because it clogged up the phone line, but they had to get used to it. Well actually they did not allow me to go on until after nine pm, but that was alright with me.
I found myself using Microsoft Word a lot more in middle school. English teachers recommended papers that were typed up. I took advantage of that and typed up all my essays. Typing up my essays was easier for me because it gave me more freedom to edit my paper. I didn’t have to go buy white out anymore. I was able to add in sentences without having to draw random arrows showing where the sentence is supposed to go. The internet was also very helpful in middle school. There were a lot more projects that had to be done. The internet made it easier to find material on specific subjects. Google came in handy for a lot of my History projects and papers.
Having certain technologies growing up became a big part of my life. I remember the day when my family got Verizon DSL. There was finally an affordable high speed internet service available. It took me months to persuade my family to get rid AOL. I had to introduce them to AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) and to other email sites such as Yahoo and Hotmail. I believe I was in the 8th grade when we made the switch. I was really excited that I was able to go online and talk on the phone at the same time. No more clogging up the phone lines! I was always on the computer now. I wouldn’t even sign out of AIM. My parents were happy they were able to make and receive phone calls. The only person that was upset was my older sister. She was mad because I was selfish with the computer, but she had no reason to get the parents involved.
When I entered high school, there was no excuse for not having papers typed up. Teachers would not accept hand written work unless if it was a rough draft. There were also many different projects that required internet resources. Once again, Google became my savior. I also relied heavily on AIM. AIM helped me gain confidence. I felt that it was easier to communicate with people through the internet than in person. But I also believe that the confidence I gained through AIM has also carried over in the real world. MySpace had also taken over my life. I remember making an account to keep in touch with friends, because AIM wasn’t “good” enough. I had to go on MySpace at least 3- 4 times a day. I was addicted. Both of these technologies had changed my way of writing. I started to use more slang and a lot more abbreviations. This sort of ruined my writing for classes. I started to have to re-read my papers 3 to 4 times to make sure there is nothing inappropriate in it. Such as the word “you” I had to make sure I had spelled it out the right way instead of using just the letter “u”. I had to become more aware of the different types of writing styles I used.
The only problem I had with MySpace was that it was not the best way to communicate with one another. This is where new technology comes in to my life. I got my first cell phone when I was in tenth grade. Well it actually wasn’t only mine. I had to share my phone with my older sister. She held on to it more because she was able to drive and she went out a lot more than I did. But a year later, I finally got my own first cell phone. I felt like a new, mature man. Having my own cell phone was great because I felt like I was more responsible. I was able to communicate with anyone within 30 seconds. This meant less time on AIM and more time on the phone. Having a cell phone also made me move away from MySpace.
By my junior year in high school, I realized that I was a much better writer than before. I learned new ways to write in school and I also avoided talking in abbreviations and slang online. In my senior year I took a Microsoft Office Skills course. The objective of this class was to learn how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point. Before taking this class I pretty much self taught myself how to use these programs. I already had some previous knowledge of word because of all the essays I typed up but I did learn certain things that made it easier for me. Microsoft Excel helped me make a lot of graphs and data sheets. I believe Microsoft Power Point was the most helpful program I learned. I did have previous knowledge on it, but I didn’t know about the creativity that could also be involved. I started using Power Point presentations for most of my class presentations.
After high school the only new technologies I got into was text messaging and Facebook. It made communicating with friends easier. It was less of a hassle. It did not interfere with my writing as much as I thought it would. For text messaging I do use abbreviations, but I am a different person when it came to writing on the computer. I don’t write in my note books anymore, unless it is in class and just for notes and assignments. I am trying to save up for a laptop so I could almost eliminate that problem. I believe my writing has become more mature over the years. I try to avoid making simple mistakes and I also only write about what is necessary. I am the same person in my writing as I am in real life. The new advances in writing technology have only benefited me. I don’t think it is slowing me down. I believe I owe technology a big thank you for making me the person that I am.
