One of the first memories I have using the Internet was around the age of 8 or 9, I believe, sitting upstairs with my two younger brothers taking turns playing computer games. From what I can remember, these games were extremely simple with minimal graphics and low complexity objections, however the three of us could spend hours trying to beat one another and reach new achievements. As time went on these games began to advance, as interactivity became more accessible through games and then on to social media.

I set up my first email account for my 9th birthday and began to sign up for other websites to play games and find information. A few years later, for my 13th birthday I set up a Facebook account, where I could friend people from school, post photos and updates, and chat with others. From then on, a lot of what the internet meant to me was communicating with friends and family, as well as keeping my accounts updated and aesthetically pleasing. One example from my past was Tumblr, where I could repost photos and further edit my page to include music, backgrounds, and other effects that are not very relevant today. Once I began to discover music growing up the internet played a very large role in accessing and finding new songs.

Today, I use the internet mostly for school and other educational purposes. I find inspiration through websites like Pinterest, and use Google to find further instructions, recipes, or useful hacks to complete a project. I will also often refer to YouTube to watch people create things and learn about techniques that help me in my own work. The internet is also extremely valuable when conducting research. I have worked as a student researcher in the past and spend hours of my time going from one website to the next gathering useful information for a much greater research project. Finally, I would not be able to access school assignments and even attend class in these times without the internet.