I
wrote this for an on-line course, part of my MA in Communication,
Literature and Mass Media. At the very moment I sent it, I
thought: "Oh, my God, I have an English post for the Blog!!!"
I'm
a child of the 90's, and although back then new technologies were
starting to be present more and more in our professional and everyday
life, I am very happy to say that, thanks to my parents, technology
wasn't at all the most important thing for me. Of course, from time
to time I played computer games and watched films or cartoons on the
TV but without abusing, not only because I wasn't allowed to, but also because I preferred playing with my brother or going for a walk or a
mountain hike, or visiting a friend in the neighbourhood and so on.
In my teenage years things changed a little since on-line chats became
enormously popular. In that period, as shameful as it is, I admit
that I got very, very nervous when someone else was on the computer
and I wasn't able to check my messages and talk to people, whom I
didn't know at all. But I suppose a teenager doesn't think about these
things. Thanks God, when I grew older, I realized that chatting with
strangers could be very dangerous and also boring, compared to the
live communication with your friends and classmates.
In
school we didn't have any type of interactive classes and we didn't miss them. In fact, we received a very good
education, because our teachers dedicated all their energy and
knowledge to us. And if you have this, you don't need technology.
Maybe I think like this because back then I didn't realize that
computers and other technological gadgets could be used at school. In
the 21-st century, however, they are crucial. Even now, I'm writing my
introduction for the course using my laptop and the on-line Oxford
dictionary for the spelling of some words.
As
I have a Bachelor's degree in Spanish Philology, during my last year, I had the opportunity to teach Spanish to teenagers in the 9-th and
the 12-th grade, as part of my pedagogical practice. The only thing
that could take away their apathetic and bored glances was to include
some sort of technology in the class – play a song on the CD-player
or, for example, explain the grammar topic with a Power Point
presentation. If not, they were just playing games on their smart
phones, discussing them in loud voice and there was little I could
do.
As
my professional and personal life nowadays is concerned, I tend to
search for the perfect balance, since I'm a Libra. In my work,
technology is absolutely indispensable – I work for a logistics
project in a Customer Service Centre where we do ALL the work on the
computer and we speak with the client on the phone. It's true that,
at the beginning, the founders of the company were writing down
everything on paper, but even they were already using phones and vehicles. And
know, with all the automatised computer systems, we are way more
efficient and fast in attending the customer's needs .
Because
of all this, when I'm back home, if I use technology it's only to
check my e-mail in five minutes and maybe watch a film or a series. I'm using
my mobile phone, a “stupid” one, much less than before and very
often I don't have neither the need nor the energy to continue
sitting in front of the screen, no matter that it's for personal use.
Of course, I love that I can stay in touch with my Erasmus friends
from Spain or that, thanks to new technologies, we can attend an on-line
course, for example. Oh, I almost forgot to mention a very important
thing: every book that I read is a real one, with paper covers and
pages! I
absolutely love the smell of books, no matter if they are new and
freshly printed or if they have between their pages the smell of
years and years spent in the basement of an old house.
© 2015, Cristiana Bobeva
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