cct333-narrative


 * CCT333 - PERSONAL INSPIRATION NARRATIVE

Write your own personal (2-3 page) story of your own technological “eureka” moment. This story should be a compelling personal story of when you discovered larger principles of design and technology issues. While it can be inspired by CCT courses, it shouldn’t be just a story of something learned in class, but rather something a bit more personal and profound than something you simply learned in class.**

As I look back on a "eureka" moment in my past, I really have to step outside the mind-set of a twenty-year old and remember what it was like when I was first introduced to the computer. It was the start of the fifth grade when my parents finally listened to endless nagging coming from my brother and bought us our first family computer. Honestly, I didn't care so much about the actual computer itself, I was more enlightened with the idea of just having one. Since practically everyone at my school had one, I needed to jump on the bandwagon. I honestly didn't see the greatness of computers, I usually spent about twenty-minutes of my day playing the pre-installed pinball game that came with Windows 95.

I had some bad experience with the internet when I was younger that made me a little hesitant to go online while I was at home. It wasn't as much bad as it was boring. I tried going on the Spice Girls webpage back when the web was just starting to develop. Looking back on it now, it was a plainly coded page with a horribly repeated background with texted links to other pages and pictures. It was the first webpage I had ever visited, so how was I to know that links actually lead me to different places. I spent a good ten minutes staring at the page (while it was loading through dial-up) to find nothing. What a bloody waste of my time. Since then, I didn't think the internet was very exciting.

My actual "eureka" moment came a few weeks into the fifth grade when I stumbled upon a truly unique (at that time, at least) and addicting game site called Neopets. I would describe it as a sequel to Tamagotchi toys mixed with the playfulness of Barbies. Pretty much the initial basis was to create a pet and play games to earn points which was used as currency. It's common to see virtual games like this nowadays, but back in the day, this was the innovation of the web. It was the first hands-on experience I had within a virtual community where ties were based on common interests. I was ten-years-old, the fact that I was talking to people in Singapore blew my mind. How did I get my mom to let me stay on late? I just told her it was educational because I was learning valuable computer skills for school. That was bull. I was just going to sit there and play little Java games most of the night (which was like 10PM because that's what I considered 'late') and earn myself some virtual money to buy virtual items. This is the dominant memory I have when I was ten.

I was addicted, (much to the extent of people now being addicted to their Blackberry or Facebook). I'm sure a lot of kids have touch that site at one time or another, but this was the first incident that has lead me to where I am today. Neopets has a feature to customize various user preferences, but it is all done in HTML and CSS. Obviously I had no idea what that even was at the time, let alone actually knowing how to code. But being stuck with pre-made features was the definition of being a virtual loser (and I couldn't sit there and take that). I strived to be the best at everything I was capable of. This virtual world was really no exception. I would split my time equally between learning how to photoshop and reading up on HTML codes. So while every other normal child went online to play little games, I was introducing myself into a whole area of skills and possibly a new profession. My dad wanted me to be an accountant; that was definitely not in the agenda. I was too busy adapting to new online trends to worry about silly numbers (unless it was hex codes for colours).

I admit, I've logged back in to reminisce my childhood bliss from time to time. One thing I have noticed, these kids (who are like 12 years old) are amazing at what they do for just for fun. I can easily mistake their creations for high quality professional work. The trends there are mirroring the common trends we see in graphic and web design on the web with a whimsical twist (mostly because they're adapting the artwork available on the site). If I got my start from a site like this, I am sure I'm not the only one out there.

For many people, this was just a phase from their childhood memories that resulted from boredom. Sure, it's entertaining with the fun interactives, but has developed into small communities that eventually branch out into something more. It started out as a virtual kids site but slowly developed into a graphic/web-design hobby, to the point where I'm pursuing it as a career. I learned more practical skills as a kid than I probably ever did in high school (and so far, university). If I told myself this would happen when I was ten, I probably would have laughed in my own face.