TL;DR: The Internet has been part of me since I was a child, now I explore how my life would be different if the Internet was not was part of me.

Ever since I first started using the Internet when I was about eight years old, it became a part of me. The question now is, what if the Internet wasn’t part of me? What type of person would I be now and how different would I be? When looking into my entire life, I pictured it without having access to the Internet. There are various outcomes of what type of person I would be and how different I would be. Looking at my life now, I can say that I’m a sort of a geek and nerdy person. I spend most of my time on the computer playing video games and browsing the web or watching anime. I read about the latest technology news every day and I like coding. I’m this type of person and like to do all these things because the Internet has been part of me. Otherwise, I don’t think I would be this kind of guy.

If the Internet wasn’t part of me, I think I would be more of a trouble maker, a gang member, only caring about myself and I wouldn’t even be in college. I’m from one of the most violent places in New York City; the South Bronx. I was surrounded by drugs, poverty, abuse, and shootings. If you didn’t do well in school and make it to college, you would be just like the rest of the people in the streets. The Internet was my escape route to success, knowledge, and motivation. The more I used it, the more I learned and wanted to be something in life. If the Internet weren’t there, I would probably be working at a fast food restaurant, making minimum wage and maybe would have a baby. This would be the best case scenario for me. The worse case scenario would be me being part of a gang, in the street selling drugs, living away from my family or even be in jail.

Even though I didn’t have any first-hand experience with the violence, the abuse, and drugs around my neighborhood. I think that because this environment surrounded me and if the Internet weren’t part of me, I would have been consumed by this environment. The Internet gave me the gateway to escape from all of these things, and I’m grateful for the person that I have become over the years. The Internet has been part of me for all these years; I had many opportunities that I wouldn’t have otherwise. For example, I always wanted how to make a website, and from there I started learning HTML and CSS. When I finally learned the core and high-level parts of CSS and HTML, I created my personal website. There were times that I wanted to make money on my own but I couldn’t get a job. I could have quickly started selling drugs just like the rest of the people did around me. Since I had the Internet, I found ways to make money online legally and safely. Finally, it opened the door for many internships around programming, and it helped me build a network of people that can hopefully I can call or email one day for an internship or a job opportunity.

My life would have been entirely different if the Internet wasn’t part of my life. Because of where I come from and the environment that surrounded me, my life would have been a rough and dark one. Thanks to the Internet this is not the case; my life is heading to an active and fruitful path, and I will accomplish all my goals in life.

No Internet pixabay photo by Deutsch shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license