When I was in first grade, I was given a personal computer. An old, hand-me-down desktop that was at least a decade older than me, but it was still a computer that I could use for whatever I wanted, at the young age of six. Since then, my life has been more or less dominated by computers and other forms of technology. Aside from sleep, being on my computer, whether for gaming, chatting, reading, studying, or work, has consumed the most time out of any other activity . 

One of the fundamental components of modern computers is the computer mouse. An innovation when it was first invented, the computer mouse significantly increased the accessibility of computers, making them usable to even six year old me. 

As someone who uses the computer so frequently, it is natural to have a high quality computer mouse. This is where my computer mouse, the Logitech G502, comes in. 

The Logitech G502 computer mouse can be easily looked up for a picture, but the mouse itself is medium sized and constructed with black plastic. Importantly, compared to your generic office mouse, this mouse has 8 buttons, placed in convenient locations to allow for more flexible computer operation. For example, one button is binded to the previous page key for web browsers, so instead of clicking the left arrow on the top-left of said web browser, I just click the button on my mouse. Additionally, due to the grippy materials on the sides, and the shape of the mouse being specifically designed to fit in the palm of an average human hand, the mouse is more ergonomic, and thus, more comfortable to use. Overall, upgrading from a cheap office mouse to this higher quality gaming mouse has definitely made my computer experience more efficient and comfortable.  

This computer mouse is one of many pieces of computer hardware that I own and have owned, including there or four other mice. Compared to when I started in 6th grade, I have upgraded my computer twice, my headphones many times, my keyboard twice, my monitor once, and that doesn’t include the handful of random accessories such as HDMI cables and mouse pads that I have cycled through countless times. 

Most of those “upgrades” mostly consisted of replacing broken hardware into other old hardware lying around the house, or into replacements of similar price and quality. Even when I did have the opportunity for significant upgrades, such as when the first computer broke in 6th grade and my parents offered to replace it, I was too worried about the cost of the computer, even though my parents could comfortably afford a high quality pc, that I opted into one of the cheaper computers available. 

Eventually, as I grew older and less afraid of spending money, I started becoming acutely aware that the hardware I was using was not adequate given how frequently I was using the computer.  Additionally, as one would expect from a growing adolescent, I was becoming smarter, including within the realm of computers and electronics. Towards the end of my high school years, I would later ask my parents to buy me a fairly expensive laptop, the one I currently use. 

The mouse came later while visiting my relatives in China. As is customary in Chinese tradition, my relatives gifted me with money, for cultural reasons I still do not fully understand. Of course, this has always happened, but I would generally just give the money to my mother to store in a savings account that I had no access to. This particular visit, both my mother and my extended family insisted I spend the money how I wished. I ended up spending some of the money on the Logitech g502. 

The purchasing of the Logitech mouse will always be significant to me. Firstly, it was one of the first major hardware upgrades as I transitioned from old hand-me-down hardware to more expensive, higher quality versions. It was also a wiser spending choice than previous hardware I purchased, which were cheap, but also broke down easily, or failed to offer the necessary functions that my extended computer usage demanded. The Logitech mouse was not only useful for reasons I already outlined, but it has lasted several years, and I expect it to last many more. In many ways, the mouse represents a major aspect of my growth, both in the intelligence and researching ability necessary to find the correct hardware to buy, and in tossing aside the fear of spending money. In a sense, as I grew up, my computer and setup also grew with me. The purchasing of the Logitech g502 is perhaps the most notable milestone in that growth journey.Â