Six light bulbs enriched with white light shine upon its surroundings. The wooden floor is glistening from the light shining down. Leather from the couch has highlights run along it from the lights above. The fan moves in a circular motion much slower than a helicopter. The light breeze falls down to sooth our bodies from the heat. My Dad is sitting on the swing with his feet propped up on the edge of the couch where my mom happens to be sitting. Both of them lounging relaxed and sunken into the sofa cushions. In my mom’s hands is a black remote that controls the TV. Then I am sitting on the other end of the couch with my legs fully extended. We are eating our dinner, grateful for food and enjoying the flavors that are bursting into our mouths. We are watching a movie as we indulge in our dinner. However, I am still attentive to the actions and sounds produced by the TV. I look around the curtains are closed the sky is settling and has finally become dark. But the moon still glistens, awakening the night sky. The atmosphere is calm and peaceful. I look up and the ceiling is so tall it seems like the empire state building could fit inside. The fan breeze still flows across the whole room. 2 pillows scattered around the couch which are never in their positions. The pillows have designs with mature blue colors and the background is jet black. The fireplace is dull, nothing to make it more welcoming. But my family and I still have a good time bonding.
refugee
Memory as Character, by Anika
India is a very unpredictable place where unexpected things can happen. They don’t have the best road safety and have quite a lot of accidents. Sadly, that’s how my moms’ dad died, in a car accident. My mom was so young and didn’t understand what was happening, but she did observe something about her mother. Since her father died so early on in life, my grandma had to step up her education and decided to become a school teacher so that the family wouldn’t have financial difficulties. My grandma had a tough time but covered up so that her daughter wouldn’t have to see what she was going through. If my grandma hadn’t been focused on her education then they wouldn’t have been able to cope with this sudden change. One of the most important life lessons my mom learned from my grandma is to always be prepared for any situation and never be reliant on anyone. That’s my grandma, the one who dealt with a tough situation and handled it the best she could! She can deal with any situation and handle stress just so her family has a good future. That made my mom the person she is today and she tends to tell me lots of life lessons for my better well-being. Naturally, when I was a young child and didn’t get what I would want, I would cry. However, my mom taught me that that is unacceptable because you have to work for everything you have because when you are older you don’t get free handouts. At a young age, I never cared and thought my mom was just giving me life lessons. That made me think about how many useful things my parents have told me that my generation would just call “parents nagging at their kids.” But it’s more deep, I realized that parents do that so that their kids don’t have to go through the same struggles as them when they were our age. Even though I’m not much older, I am mature enough to know that I have to work hard to deserve something I want. As I go to school and look at my generation, I can’t think of anything, but disgust because some of them feel entitled to everything they want. This made me appreciate my mom because, from a young age, she taught me very important values in life. My mom is my savior and has taught me to cherish anything that comes along in my life and that I need to work hard to deserve anything. Sooner than later, I realized that my mom’s life lessons would help me in the real world.
Ethnographic Interview, by Alex
51 years ago, my father, an ambitious software engineer, was born. From this day on, he continues to work hard and develop new algorithms for software. Countless days go on rapidly, with new technology enhancing our world to perfection. When I asked my father about when and why he became interested in software engineering, he began, “When I was a college graduate, I grew interested in software engineering because it was simple for me. After participating in a few hardware projects, I noticed that it was not easy, considering the use of physics. For me, I was good at math overall, but not in physics. And that’s why I picked software over hardware.” He described his job as “complex” and “interesting” and believes that software engineering is just a small step of changing our world’s insight on technology. “Throughout my 22 years of working on software engineering outside of college, I am proud of developing several new algorithms.” He said. My father chatted on, saying how he would have picked material science if he was not able to learn about software engineering during his college years. From my own experience, I used to marvel through video games to find how they were made. When I was little, I played with my nintendo switch and had to keep on inserting the game cards. Now that I think of it, the game cards could be hardware that has loads of software. As a PHD in Electrical Engineering, my dad also took time after college to work as a TA (Teacher Assistant) at Syracuse State University and UIUC. My dad said, “I think being able to learn about software engineering is a great privilege to everyone.” He also described software engineering as a fulfilling job. My dad left me thinking about why software engineering is so important and why I should pursue a career as a software engineer. Now come to think of it, I think that software is important because software engineering involves implementing secure coding practices and incorporating security measures to protect sensitive data. Software engineering creates technological innovation. It enables the creation of new applications, tools, and systems that improve our lives, enhance productivity, and solve complex problems.
