A Wide Birth

Here's a submission for English 201, Non Fiction Writing.  

A Wide Birth

I found the article, “Technology and the College Generation” by Courtney Rubin, perplexing.  First, I find it odd that so many students have difficulty figuring out their class assignments simply because they are located via email.  Am I missing something here?  How is this a thing?  Maybe it’s because as a student at Boise State University, I have been well trained to check my student email for correspondence from my professors.  The article states that, “some of them didn’t even seem to know they had a college e-mail account”, and this from a junior level class.  Again, this seems perplexing to me.

I certainly understand that students prefer social media, which is also the point of the article.  But the fact that many don’t seem to even know how to write a proper email seems bizarre.  Being older, I know that I have a different experience than most younger students.  Good Lord, I learned how to type on a typewriter (See image below for reference - if needed).  In my first round of college, I took a class where we used carbon paper (between two sheets of typing paper) to make copies of our work.  One wrong key stroke and you were starting all over again.  I remember the day when email was the oh-so-cool, new thing on the block.  Actually, it was much more than that.  We have never seen or done anything like it.  It was downright revolutionary.  And now, to think that it is antiquated!  I can’t keep up. 

But hey, I’m a modern gal.  I can use social medial just like the best of them.  But all the same, there is a place for email.  If I have a story to tell, it aint gonna happen by text.  Not even IM.  I want a keyboard and a wide birth.  And speaking of email, I thought it was interesting that Jeff Hancock on TED talks said that email is the media where people are the most honest – good enough for me.  I for one will not be giving it up.