[DMEC] Essay Quotes: Things learned
While there were only 14 winning essays, the majority of the over 130 essays offered some insight into and perspective on the role of digital media amongst today's teens. The following is a collection of some of the best quotes around the topic of Things learned.
Pearl S., Bob Jones High, Madison, Alabama:
My first, and favorite, videogame console was the Nintendo. Although it would amuse me for hours, I never actually played it. Playing the games was too hard for me because I lacked the hand-eye coordination to do so. Instead, I simply became my dad's personal cheerleader. I would watch my dad play "Zelda" and "Super Mario Cart", the only two games I owned, and shriek along with sheer excitement. Whenever he played "Zelda," I would become the "back-seat driver" and command him to go left instead of right because I knew all the secrets of the game. When he played "Super Mario Cart," I would twist my body left and right, mentally urging our car to do the same. Currently, my siblings' and my favorite game is "Dance Dance Revolution.".. Because I engaged myself in videogames earlier on in life, my brain has become quicker in responding to various things. I now also have very good hand-eye coordination and play softball and tennis.
TheCoolLeader B., Teen Second Life:
Things I have been able to do only in Second Life that I couldn’t have done in real life: owning land, having a house, having a shop, building creations and scripting them to do stuff, flying,… fighting in battle areas, make. my own guns, causing objects to explode at random, … and make. a small company with some of my friends that I know only through Second Life.
Chris F., Louisville, Kentucky:
In eighth grade, I was in charge of assembling my tight-knit class's eighth-grade video, reflecting the past nine years of forty-six people's lives. I went through the pictures and picked out the best ones, putting them together in a slideshow of our prime years of childhood. It was during the presentation on graduation day, while my classmates laughed at each other and cried like beasts, that I realized how important a role I had earned in my school. I wasn't just the boy who wasted most of his time on the computer, but the person in charge of leaving a lasting impression of our favorite times in my best friends' minds. It was the highlight of my grade-school career.
Corey M., Belpre, Ohio:
Games that have the RPG [role-playing game] concept allow me to be a character or characters and help them through problems and sort of evolve throughout the game. This effect allows me to see the importance of make. the right choices in life and the consequences of make. the wrong ones. This kind of lesson is one I think everyone should have to learn.
Ryan B., Louisville, Kentucky:
With the Internet, teens now can develop their own opinions about things and voice them to the community,
Veroo E., Teen Second Life:
With the Internet, and with many programs and games, you can learn things you wouldn't in school or from any other place.
Cassie T., Kokomo, Indiana:
When I first went to design a layout for my Xanga, I discovered just how much I didn’t know. As I began learning things about HTML and design, it occurred to me that, had I been learning this any other way, it would’ve been the most boring thing in the world. So by using tools online, teens may find it easier to learn things and not view them as boring or useless.
Veroo E., Teen Second Life:
I have noticed that the people that play games such as Doom, Resident Evil, and all of those other violent games seem to be tougher people. Not so easily scared or startled. Though it also makes you less polite. Or not as nice.
