Social media has been around for decades. Media has made lives easier and giving people more knowledge about different places around the world. Before social media people were kind of trap minded because they only knew what was going on around them, but social media is helping people become more open minded.There are many applications, (apps), for social media but some are globally used such as Facebook. Facebook is one of the most popular apps. Facebook was invented by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes in 2004 over a decade ago. “Facebook” a tool which connects people or makes them stay connected. People can use it to communicate from distances and it is free to use. Facebook makes money by giving advertisements to user, and the corporations whose products are been advertised pays Facebook great amount of money. gives the F People use Facebook differently some uses it for communication, while others use it for entertainment. It allows people to communicate with each other, aware people of what’s going on in the world, and helps people become more social. Facebook has made people’s lives better.

Facebook allows people to communicate from different locations in the world. During the interview with my brother Fazal Khaliq, Fazal claims that “Facebook helps a person stay connected to friends and families”, (Khaliq par.7). Facebook is an easy usable application which can be used through both computers and phones. It helps people communicate through messages or/and calls, but mostly people use it to communicate through messages. People can communicate overseas and be connected to friends or families by the use of Facebook which costs nothing. According to Pettijohn T,F, “Others, however, have found support for the idea that social networking sites and the internet have expanded methods of staying socially connected with others and increased relationship closeness and connectedness”, (Pettijohn Par. 7). Facebook helps people keep their relationships for longer and closer.Social media is really helpful for people who leave their countries or hometowns because they can still be connected to their friends from old place. When people keep in contact with others their relationship is most likely to be close does not matter how long they stay away from each other.

Facebook allows people to post videos or pictures of an event which then can be seen by almost all the family and families. During the interview with my father Abdul Shadizai,  Abdul stated that “the good side of Facebook is that it aware people about what’s going on in the world” (Shadizai par.4). Before social media people did not know when a government had taken an action, or genocide was committed, or anything from other countries. Nowadays with the power of social media, people knows almost about all the wars, and by seeing pictures posted by others, people can judge and comment there opinions. Abdul said that, “the videos and photos makes people become more sympathetic toward others and respect their feelings”, (Shadizai. par.11). Abdul made a valid point because by looking at others’ emotional posts makes a person have more sympathy for them. Someone once said “a picture worth thousand words”, pictures posted by others sometimes makes us appreciate our lives and what we have. During the interview with Fazal, he said that “the posts on Facebook really affects a person more than even when we see the same event in real, the music and tone in a video adds more feelings into the event”, (Fazal par. 10). If a person see an event in Facebook he/she is more likely to understand the feelings more than if that person sees it in real life because in Facebook the person who posts, add music or tone which gives more feelings to the video.

People who uses Facebook are more social than people who don’t. According to Pettijohn, “using social media can have positive benefits associated with community engagement”, (Pettijohn par.7). Social media helps a person become a  better communicator. The more people a person talks to the better his/her way of communication gets because when a person talks to more people that person gets to experience new and better ways of communicating which affects that person. By the use of Facebook people became more open minded. According to Pettijohn, “with the expansion of the internet and social  networking sites, more people are using technology to communicate with their friends and family online and maintain these interpersonal connections in novel ways that were not available in previous generations” (pettijon par.6). Unlike previous generations, this generation have the opportunity to communicate with others through phones or computers which can be used from far distances. before people could not communicate with others unless they were talking face-to-face, but now communications are possible from even overseas by the use of social media apps such as Facebook. People who uses Facebook knows better how to keep others’ attention because they have experience by talking to others online.

Some people do not use Facebook because they believe that it has downsides. According to Szekely, “Facebook users should also expect an immediate response when they post something online and that says to me people should be careful with what they post as there are no take-backs once it’s on the site”,(Washington par.6). Sometimes people posts videos or photos which later they regret doing,it is true that a video or even a picture can ruin a person’s life in social media with all kinds of people making comments. There have been many cases in which a post gets a person in trouble not only through all the social media but also in real life. Nowadays after so much experience with Facebook people are smart enough to think multiple times before posting anything. During the interview with Abdul Shadizai, Shadizai said that, “Facebook is affecting teenagers lack their communication skills”, (Shadizai par.9). Abdul believes that Facebook is having negative affect on teens social skills, but it is the other way around. Many studies have been conducted and the results shows that Facebook is improving people’s social skills.

Facebook is helping people in many ways such as communication, entertainment, and making people become more social. Facebook was created in 2004. It is been around for over a decade and it was getting popularity rapidly in the beginning, now it is still popular almost globally. Based on how popular Facebook is, it is most likely to be around for more than 10 or 15 more years. Many studies shows that this tool Facebook is having positive effects on people. In the future Facebook will be more appreciated by the current generations because it is improving our social skills, learning skills, and communication skills. The skills we gain from the use of Facebook are crucially needed in job places. Tools like Facebook are always needed because it helps people stay connected, and helps people gain more knowledge about others and events. People nowadays thinks that how hard it have been to communicate with others in old times before social media but it was not hard because they never had experience with it. Living without social media would be hard because people now are so used to it and always wants to stay connected to friends and know what is going on in this world. With all experiences of people with Facebook and all the studies it has been proven that Facebook is improving people’ staying connected to others and their social skills.

Citations

Fazal, Khaliq. Personal interview. 29 Nov.2015

Pettijohn, Terry F., Kimberly E. LaPiene, and Amanda L. Horting. “Relationships Between Facebook Intensity, Friendship Contingent Self-Esteem, And Personality In U.S. College Students.” Cyberpsychology 6.1 (2012): 1-7. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.

Shadizai,Fazal. Personal interview. 26 Nov.2015

“Washington: Unable to Suspend Non-Students, University of Tulsa Settles for Hiding Facebook Posts.” US Official News. (February 18, 2015 Wednesday ): 615 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2015/12/08.

BilalShadizai

ENG 1101

                                                     Becoming a Programmer

Everyone should choose their major carefully because it’s their career. My name is Bilal Shadizai. I’m currently attending the New York City College of Technology, (CityTech). I’m majoring in Computer Information System, (CIS), which belongs to the department of Computer System Technology,(CST),and the school of Tech and Design. I have done some research in different kinds of jobs and the one that caught my interest is Web programming. CST provides two kinds of degrees, an Associate of Applied Science, (AAS), another is Bachelor of Technology, (BTech). The degree I’m trying to earn is AAS because it prepares people for web programming, and database programming. If I get an opportunity in the future I will also try to get BTech degree because with a bachelor a person can find better jobs with higher wages than a person with only associates. To be a programmer a person should have patience in order to work well, and patience is one of my best qualities. CST is the right major for me because I have been interested in programming for a long time, and programming will gives me opportunity to work alone. In addition as technology evolves and becomes an important part of our daily lives, more jobs will occur. In the computer field there are many jobs with higher pays compare to other fields. I am planning to work hard to achieve an AAS degree and then bachelors.

According to CityTech Catalog “The Associates in Applied Science (AAS) in computer information prepares students for entry level careers in: computer programming, and systems networking administration and support” (Catalog 222). People who earn AAS degree can get jobs as programmers and AAS gives a solid information about computer systems. I want to acquire my associates in CityTech and find a job as a web programmer. If I could I will also get BTech degree in order to be more successful. Learning programming requires a lot of hard work, patience, and well cooperation between learner, and teacher. Many people change their majors from CIS to something else because they find it hard. Learning programming can be frustrating but it’s not impossible to learn. I will not change my major because becoming a programmer is what I always wanted to do. Most people who got Degree in CIS didn’t regret because Computers jobs can be hard to get but once someone got it, its fun to do. Just like in almost all of the jobs, programmers also improve over time. Being a major in CIS will open up many job opportunities for me because CIS prepares people for almost any kind of job that involves computers. Programming doesn’t make a person physically tired but it does makes a person mentally tired, and I like when i’m mentally challenged. The amount of research I’ve done on programming is enough to encourage me to major in CIS.

I have never taken a computer class before attending college but I have been interested in computers since my freshman year in high school. In my high school I had a friend named Wahid, who had an interest in computer systems. Wahid was completely obsessed with computers and how they work, and he would talk about computers all the time. The more he talked about it the more I grew interest in computers. I started researching about computer and jobs related to it. During the research i have found some interesting facts which I have heard from Wahid and thought were lies. According to Occupational Outlook Handbook “the median annual wage to computer programmer was $74,280 in May 2012″(United States Par.3). During the research I learned that jobs that involved computers are very high paying jobs.CityTech College Catalog stated,”Students learn, applying and evaluating technological solutions to real-world problems”,(Catalog 222). Learning computer systems will not only give me some knowledge but it will also teach me to be more patience and change the way i think. Compare to other fields the computer based jobs pays more fair payments.After learning this much about computer fields I decided to major in CIS. My friend Wahid played an important role in my decision to major in Computer Information Systems.

My preferable environment in a job is in which I can work alone. According to occupational outlook handbook “programmers normally work alone, but sometimes work with other computer specialists on large projects”,(United States Par.3). Becoming a programmer will give me an opportunity to work alone mostly, but when a task gets too complicated for me I like to discuss, and work it out with others. Most of the time when people work in a group they don’t give their best because people rely on each other when they are in a group. Occupational Outlook Handbook, “they usually work alone”(United States. Par 3). I prefer working in office in which i can work how I like. I like being challenged and doing what I can do instead of relying on others, unless the task in hand is too hard for me to get it done alone. Working alone will also give me some privacy and I like working in a quite place, I can think better when working alone. People also can’t concentrate on something when other people are around, but, concentration is a crucial part of programming, one little mistake can make all the effort useless. I think the work environment for programmer is right environment for me.

In the modern time nothing is more important than having knowledge of computers. last two or three decades computers are becoming important rapidly. Occupational Outlook Handbook stated that “ Employment of computer programmers is projected to grow 8 percent from 2012 to 2022, about as fast as the average for all occupations”(United States. Par5). As technology evolves, more computer jobs occur. Nowadays almost all jobs involves computers in some ways. People with no computer knowledge have less percentage of getting most jobs. A Two-Tier Based Approach to Improving Students’ computer Programming Skills in a Web-Based Learning Environment stated, “The rapid development of information technology has created high demands for skillful programming specialists”,(Tzu-Chi. Par1). The demands for programmers are increasing which means that there are more jobs and there are more chances of me getting a job as a programmer than other jobs. The competition of getting computer jobs are increasing but yet people can still find jobs, if they put some efforts in finding it because jobs with computers are increasing rapidly.

Being a programmer have always been my dream. I’m here in CityTech to earn an AAS and then BTech degree. After earning AAS degree I will be able to work as a programmer already. I will work for a well known company such as Verizon, or AT&T. These companies also provides other opportunities such as free trips, vacations, and if i wanted to continue my education while working for them, they will pay for my education. After getting Btech degree I will look for even better job with higher payment as a IT expert. Becoming an IT expert is not an easy task, it requires a lot of hard work, and responsibility. Being an IT expert is the highest level of computers education. IT experts know everything about computers, and how they functions. I know that it will take me more than 4 years to become IT expert so thats why im trying to become a programmer first. Becoming a programmer ,and then It expert will not be easy but i will not give up until I achieve my dream.

                                                                   Works Cited

             Tzu-Chi, Yang, et al. “A Two-Tier Test-Based Approach To Improving Students’ Computer-Programming Skills In A Web-Based Learning Environment.” Journal Of Educational Technology & Society 18.1 (2015): 198-210. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.

           New York City College of Technology- College-Catalog  2015-2016 (CityTech). New york: New york City College of Technology, 2015 PDF.

          United States. Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Computer and Information Technology. Computer Programmers. Work Environment, Pay. “Occupational Handbook Outlook” Washington: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5 Nov. 2015.

My name is Bilal Shadizai, and I’m 17 years old. I’m an immigrant from Pakistan who came to the U.S, 5 years ago. I’m a college freshman and my major is computer programming. I believe that almost everyone has something that’s important to them. To me the most important thing is bowling. In my junior year high school I joined the school bowling team which was called RFK Bowling team. I joined the team because of my friends.  Bowling started to become an important part of my life. Bowling became everything to me without me realizing it. To me there’s no other sport that is as much fun as bowling. I’m so grateful for bowling because it taught me important things about life. Every time I play bowling it excites me so much. Bowling taught me so many important things about life. Some milestones of me playing bowling are teamwork, competition, and the experience of both losing, and winning.
When I first joined Bowling I didn’t like it but I joined because my friends were joining it and I wanted to play the same sport as my friends. Once I was settled in the bowling team, there was no doubt that it was the right place and right game for me. On my first game I scored 79 out of 300. There were 17 player when I first joined. Each player in the team cooperated very well. It felt like I was in the team for years. Gradually I started to enjoy every moment with that team. Everyone in the team supported each other and encouraged each other in every game. Some of us were new to bowling and weren’t really good at bowling. We tried our best in all of the games. We all became close friends and had new kinds of experiences together. Throughout the season we were all improving. I felt like Bowling was the right sport for me because I’ve never experienced so much joy playing a sport, like I did when I played bowling. We all wanted to win because we wanted to play as many games as we could together rather than losing and getting eliminated. High school bowling requires teamwork, without teamwork games would be difficult to win and would be less fun.
Another reason bowling is important in my life is because of the competition. I like competing with other people. When I first joined bowling I didn’t even know the rules of the game. However, by seeing how our team’s best player Andrew played, I was inspired and wanted to be as good as him. Andrew was the team’s captain. Andrew’s bowling average was 256 while mine was around 90. In my junior year of high school, I was ranked C in bowling, which means I was the lowest ranked player. That year we were so close to winning a division but we didn’t because there was another team whom were better than us. Our coach was also my economy teacher. One day I went to after school to finish my economy work and I heard our coach was talking to another teacher saying that we needed one more skilled player to win a division. I didn’t want to be in the lower rank and I wanted to catch up to the team’s best player. During the summer time I started to practice on my own. There was a person in the bowling place where I used to practice his name is Arthur and he worked in the bowling place. Arthur saw me practicing like almost 4 or 5 days per week and one day he came up to me and said that “you have improved so much”. Arthur was also a very skilled player in bowling, he started teaching me bowling. Every time I practiced I had one thing in mind and it was to make it to the A team. By the time I was a senior in high school, I became one of the team’s top ranked player. My average went up from 90 to 180. I didn’t become as good as the team’s best player was but I ranked 2nd in the team. After all the hard work my team and I did we won the division during my senior year. When I was graduating I got an award for the most improved bowling player. After getting the award for the most improved bowling player I felt satisfied because all my hard work paid off. Almost everyone in the bowling team thought that we won the division because of my improvement but I thought otherwise. I believed that we won because we all worked hard and helped each other. We won the division because of everyone’s effort not only mine. Now I like bowling more than any other sport. I have so many great memories which I wouldn’t have if I never started bowling.
Bowling is also important to me because it taught me the meaning of winning and losing. Before I started bowling, whenever I failed in something, I gave up on it without trying a second time. I used to play soccer before bowling and I wasn’t as skilled as the other players. It bothered me how I couldn’t play as well as other players but instead of trying and practicing more I gave up on soccer. In bowling whenever we won from our opponent’s team I noticed that they were even better the next time our teams versed each other. By seeing how our opponents were getting better after losing I realized that people shouldn’t give up and should work harder in order to succeed. Bowling taught me that losing is a way to get stronger. By playing bowling I realized that every time I lose I must work harder to succeed in what I want to. I used to think that losing meant failure but now after playing bowling I think the real loser is the one who gives up. The joy of winning comes after a certain loss. To me bowling is more than a sport. It shaped me to be who I’m now. Bowling also made me realized that the feeling of losing wouldn’t stay for long, but the thought of me giving up would. All I have to do is keep trying and work harder.

If I could I will never stop bowling because of bowling I learned so many important things. I found new friends, new personality, and new experiences. I will continue playing bowling maybe not as much as I used to because of my studies but I will keep playing. I want to see what other great experiences bowling can bring. In future if I could I will join another team with who I can play bowling because the full excitement of bowling comes when people play in teams. I’m so grateful to bowling because when I look back at how I was back then I think I never would have find friends and never would have known the real meaning of winning and losing. I’m also grateful to Arthur for teaching me bowling skills, I don’t think I could have improved so much in such short time if Arthur had not trained me. I wouldn’t have experienced the joy of winning after the hard work if I have not joined bowling. Bowling is more than a sport to me I respect bowling and I think most likely I will be playing it in future too. I will not stop bowling because nothing excites me more than bowling.