Blog 4 Draft

a little bit left to go...Sorry

i started to revise it here so most of this is in my final copy. Sorry

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.