Don’t Expect What’s Expected
Taylor Jackson
November 6th 2012
Family Tree
TAYLOR ANDRE LEAH CHASE LARRY BETHANY ERIC BRANDON LESLIE MICHELLE ADRIANNE ARMON AARON MARTHA PAUL LOREN ISABELLE MOM/GRANDMA MOLITOR ANNIE ANDREW ROSCOE MOM/GRANDMA MOLITOR MARY MOM/GRANDMA MOLITOR ELLA MAE /GRANNIE SALLY DAD/PAPA ANDREWDAD/PAPA WILLIAM DAD/GRANNIE
Key: T=ME T=DAD T=MOM T=BROTHER T=GRANDPA T=MOM’S SISTER T=MOM’S BROTHER T=DAD’S SISTER T=DAD’S BROTHER T=GRANDMA T=GREAT GRANDMA T=GREAT GRANDPA T=GREAT GREAT GRANDMA
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Authors Note:
“I felt a pang -- a strange and inexplicable pang that I had never felt before. It was homesickness. Now, even more than I had earlier when I'd first glimpsed it, I longed to be transported into that quiet little landscape, to walk up the path, to take a key from my pocket and open the cottage door, to sit down by the fireplace, to wrap my arms around myself, and to stay there forever and ever.” ― Alan Bradley It all started in 1962 when the idea of the Intergalactic Internet was
published. IBM followed up with further developing the computer in 1981 and created the first personal laptop. In 1982 J.C.R Licklider finally established the Internet, this idea pulled people away from reality,
forming their new digital life. Soon scientists went into study of this
invention, Mr. V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai added on to the Internet in the mid
1990’s by developing the electronic mail. Without thought many people tossed out the pen and paper replacing their written words with
electricity. With all the cooperation to grow this new way of life in 1993 the Internet took off as the fastest growing information network.
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Taylor Jackson 3A
Historical Narrative November 15
Don’t Expect What’s Expected By: Taylor Jackson
The wind whistled by, sweeping a meager pile of leaves out of my path. It was fall; I had been two months away from home, and urging to get in contact with my family. Recently, I was sent over to Perth, Australia for an overseas teaching program. The hot topic around town was the Internet, and a person named J.C.R LIckelder had been invented it in 1982. I had mutual feelings for the Internet. Mostly people just used it for emailing and I thought that was a little impersonal, I preferred putting pen to paper. But, all my feelings evolved when one day I was on my way to the local library…
A pebble ricocheted into the dust; I watched it skid by. Its simple structure and its only motion clouded my mind. I stayed focused in on the rock, not letting anything get in the way, but slowly its action began to fade. The water of my eyes subsided as I looked up to chase another thought that would occupy my vision. A shadow gazed down over me, a willow tree, blinding my sight to all that stood in front. In a split of a second, I found myself tip toed out of the shadow, not exactly knowing why. Casually, I scanned a rusty sign. “Perth, Australia Local Library,” I whispered to myself. As I slogged to the door the sounds that filled the air, bird chirps, and
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rambunctious laughter, evaporated to nothing but a distant call. A spark of remembrance ran through my mind and awakened my memory to a parallel thought. Being so far away from home makes you sick with the feeling of being forgotten by the ones you cherish so much. I felt as if each step towards the computer desk caused an earthquake to erupt under my feat. The cracks in my emotion were filled with hope, which bubbled over until I finally reached my destination.
The computer screen projected on to my face reflecting the loading URL. My hand hovered over the mouse in anticipation. “I really hope my family replied!” I squealed. My Hotmail account appeared on the screen, I tried clicking the inbox account but error 402103 emerged. My brain froze into a position that couldn’t be thawed; I just stood there, eyeing the computer. The girl next to me must have noticed me because she said, “Hey, no worries love, just click the left button towards the top, hit shift, and there you go. You can’t expect this stuff to be perfect, you know email just came out two years ago in “90”.” I quickly shook out of my statue and replied with a brief “thanks”. My inbox appeared on the screen, digital frequencies fled through my head jotting down everything that appeared. I smiled, two new messages! At that moment all was serene, it was like I clicked my heels together and there on the screen appeared my home, right in front of me. With a new state of
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mind, I read through the emails, over and over again, seeing their faces in my head with a smirk of remembrance. I wanted to stay there forever resting my eyes on the soil of my home.
Soon I felt a draft, I turned around to find the source of the occurrence. “The library is closing.” Said the practical lady in kneehigh socks as she exited the building. I jumped out of my seat, packed up my stuff, shared a smile with the computer, and walked over to the door. As I raced home the moons everlasting glow gleamed down on me animating my face to a grin that could never be erased. “Pack up your troubles, get your old suitcase, and burry them beneath the sea“ I sang. When I moved to Australia it was like I packed up a new suitcase but instead of burring it underneath the sea I brought it overseas with me. I needed a break from all of the commotion, and having that one serene minute with the words of my family was just the right solution. Now everything was unwritten, unpredictable, a new chapter had been written and I couldn’t wait to explore.
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Discovering the Internet Q/A 1. When did you first discover the Internet? College
2. How old were you? 21 3. What did you look like? Same as I do now but running 7 miles a day 4. How old was auntie Bethany, uncle Eric, uncle Brandon, my mom and auntie Leslie?
Figure out with mom
5. What part of college were you in? Towards the end of college, really started to use it when she
moved to Australia with and lived with a local family. She was there from a college thing and she taught over at an
elementary school where two boys from the local family went. She used the Internet to keep in contact with her family. That was when I got a Hotmail account. 6. What type of computer did you have? She did not have her own computer; there were computer labs, that at the college that were provided computers at school. When she lived in Australia there was the local library, the
school, and the computer cafĂŠ. At the computer cafĂŠ you paid money to use the computer. Did not have her own computer until she was out of college. It was funny to her because my mom worked at a computer company and she would not get her a computer. 7. What did other people think of the Internet?
She had a few friends who liked it because it was a fast way to
find information. Also had a few friends who were like her who
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were like “eh I don’t need to use that there are other ways to
use get information”. This was also the time where cellphones were becoming more normal to have. Also did not have a cellphone.
8. Was it the main thing talked about at school?
No, we were using books at school. So nobody really got interested in the Internet. We used computers for word
documents just to write papers. She could not really use the Internet because there were not very powerful search engines, like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. So she had to copy the URL of places into the top and that was really hard.
9. What did your computer feel and look like, hot, cold, red, pink, green?
The computers were the IBM brand; it had a monitor and a
hard drive. There were floppy disks instead of a username that she kept her information on. It was typical because if she had lost her floppy disk then she would not have her information
any more, and it was easy to loose. She likes the technology now a lot better! 10.
Was the Internet something you dreamed about and something
that took up every waking moment of your life or were you just like eh?
It was something that she was like “eh” about.
She did not really like the Internet, more of an oddball on the Internet thing. Thought the Internet was really impersonal She thought that there were other ways to stay in contact with her family, and research. 11.
What did your family think of the Internet? My grandma, her mom, did not trust the Internet all; she
thought that when you buy plane tickets or anything on it
someone would just wipe your whole banking account out. My mom, her sister, did not have a problem with the Internet. My
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aunt Leslie, her sister, really likes technology and things, so
she really liked the Internet and exploring it. She always has a new gadget “SHE LOOOVES TECHNOLOGY”. Brandon, Eric,
and Bethany, her sister and brothers, my aunt and uncles, they were too young at the time to have to use it very much.
Brandon and Eric were in the army so they did not have to use it very much. When Eric got transferred to Germany that’s
when he would use it. Brandon would just talk on the phone to communicate to back home. Bethany was in high school, the
youngest sibling, so she used it at school. She would use it to
email, so it was something that she would normally have to do. My mom and Bethany are 15 YEARS apart. So all of the
siblings had a different perspective of the Internet, because of their scenario. 12.
What did you use the Internet for?
Research, research on a subject for classes at college, but only sometimes, she would usually use books for research.
13.
When did you usually use the Internet?
14.
Did you use the computer for other things too?
15.
Where did you use the Internet?
16.
What was your favorite thing to do on the Internet?
17.
What is something that stands out behind all the other things
After classes
She did not use the Internet for other things.
In the computer lab for schoolwork
Just research, and eventually was email.
about the Internet, what is your special small moment? • •
When she lived in Persa Australia She was transferred there from college for a student teaching program
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•
For living quarters she lived with a family who lived in a house not to far away from the school
•
There was a mom, a dad, 2 sons, Jordan, and Jacob there last name was Burnham
• •
Had her own room, decorated it a little bit She really grew to like the Internet there because it was
a way to stay in contact with her friends and family from •
America That was really special to her because she was gone for 5 months, so it was important to her so that she could
keep close contact with her family when she was so far away 18.
Now that we have got some background image can you tell me
about a special moment that happened within a day? •
The first time she opened her email box and they had written back
•
She was really homesick before but now when she opened the email it made her feel really, really good
•
It reminded her that even though that she was so far away she could still be really close to them
19.
What time was it when you realized that you had gotten the
email?
• •
It was night time, around 7:00 P.M in the evening Went to the local library and I had seen that they had written me back it made her a little less homesick
• • • 20.
It was the first thing she did on the computer Checked her Hotmail account and saw that our family had written her back It made her smile at the computer at the library
Were you there with a friend or someone?
No, she was there by herself, there were other people there though. But none that she knew.
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21.
Did you eat dinner before you came home? •
No
•
She left school, came home, had an after school snack,
• • • 22.
and then went to the library
She used to always have a sausage roll afterschool They smell nice and tasty They are very delicious
When you got onto the computer were you expecting to see
that they wrote you back? • • •
23.
She was anticipating and to see if they had written her back but she was not sure if they had written her back Because she had written them the day before
What did you write them about? • • • •
24.
She was hoping to see that they wrote her back
Wrote them about her new family Her new school Missing them Where she was living and how pretty Perse was
Did you read all the emails really, really fast or did you go
through them slowly with anticipation? •
25.
She read them slowly and over and over again
Who wrote you back? • • •
Her mom wrote her back Her boyfriend, Chad wrote her back Her friends did not write her because most of them were over seas with her
26.
How did you feel after you read all the emails?
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• • 27.
Was ready to go home for the night for dinner
Before you read the emails how were you feeling? •
28.
Happy with a tint of tiredness
Homesick
Did you tell your Australian family about your emails? •
She told them she was going to the library to check emails
29.
Did you go home before you left or just go? •
Well at the end of the day Jacob and Jordan were being picked up from the school by their mom
• • • 30.
She had and afterschool snack with them Then said she was going to the library Said she would be home after the library
How old were the boys?
They were 10 and 6 they are grownups now 31.
Which grade did you teach?
32.
Did you see the boys around the school?
She taught Year 7, which is 6th grade
•
Yeah
•
Jacob was her my class
•
Jordan was in a Year 1 class, which is the kindergarten class
33.
Did you like the school, and class? • •
34.
Yep, she did she liked it a lot It was Edan Hill Primary school
Did you like the neighborhood? •
I did
•
The neighborhood was Edan Hill
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• • •
35.
The school was Edan Hill Primary school The neighborhood was very nice It was in Perse which is one of the main cities in Australia
Was the town really pretty? •
Its beautiful
•
Australia is beautiful
•
We were right on the Indian ocean so it was beautiful
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Developing the Internet Facts: • • • • •
The first form of the internet concept was first established in 1982 In the mid 1990s the rise of electronic mail, and instant messaging started by V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai In 1981 IBM announced the first personal computer In 1962 the Idea of the “Intergalactic Network” was developed by J.C.R Licklider
In 1993 the internet takes off as part of the worlds fastest growing information network
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Don’t Expect What’s Expected reflection:
1. What have you learned about your family’s history? How has working on this project helped you understand your family better and given you a better sense of your identity? It reminded me how important that keeping the special glue between your family is. You only realize it when you escape their loving hands. It made me feel like I am part of a strong family we will always be in touch and never forget each other. 2. Why do you think doing a project like this is important? It helps us learn about our family bond and help us gain confidence in who we are. 3. What part of this project did you enjoy the most? Why? Interviewing my aunt because I had not talked to her in a really long time, and when I did she was smiling and laughing the whole time. She felt like this aspect of her life is important and she contributes to the family legacy. 4. What specific challenges did you face during this project and how did you over come them? When I was researching the topic there was not much to be found regarding the history of the Internet.
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Bibliography: "Silicon Valley Historical Association." Internet Timeline History
of the Internet. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.siliconvalleyhistorical.org/home/internet_timeline>. "Brief Timeline of the Internet." Webopedia. ITBuisnessEdge, 24 May 2007. Web. 24 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/timeline.asp>. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;. "History of the Internet." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Oct. 2012.
Web. 23 Oct. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the _Internet>.
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