Elijah Geniesse

Aaron Kashtan
UWRT 1101
September 20, 2016
As a child I was always one of the last kids to get the cool, new gadgets. I went to a
prestigious private school full of spoiled children who got everything they wanted from their
parents. The school was Greater Atlanta Christian School (or GACS) and it provided
Kindergarten through twelfth grade. At the time, tuition was $13,000 per semester, which meant
you could only attend the school if your parents had plenty of money to spare. My classes were
filled with the children of Professional Athletes, corporation CEOs, business presidents, and
other professions that provided enough money for them and their siblings to attend. While I was
in elementary school, at Greater Atlanta Christian School, my dad was a construction manager
for a high-in home builder. While this supplied the money necessary to provide for our family, he
struggled to continue to generate enough money to allow me to attend GACS. Due to this I was
attending on Financial Aid. On top of the Financial Aid, my mom taught at the Pre-Kindergarten
that was associated with my school. This provided me with a small scholarship to help with my
tuition. As you can imagine, it was difficult to find the excess money that we needed to purchase
technologies. Also, my family has always been very religious. My parents contribute much
money to the church and dont have the desire for fancy possessions. This made it difficult for
me to explain why I would want new gadgets and technology.
I was in fifth grade when I got my first cell phone. Some people may think thats early to
get a cell phone but all of my friends had already received their first phones. My friends

continuously asked me why my parents hadnt gotten me a phone yet. While others were
communicating outside of school, I could only speak to people if I was with them. Because of
this I felt left out, I went home and explained to my parents how I was feeling excluded because I
didnt have a way to talk to my friends outside of school. So they discussed it and finally agreed
upon buying me my first cell phone. The phone was a Samsung Juke. When we purchased it
we decided not to enable texting on the phone because it was too expensive. At first I didnt
really care, I was just excited to finally have my own phone. But once I got to school everyone
told me my phone was worthless without texting capabilities. So I quickly convinced my mom
to get me a plan that allowed me to send 100 texts a day. At first the keypad was difficult to
navigate. I had to learn how to click one button multiple times to get to the letter I wanted. But I
quickly picked it up and was texting just like everyone else.
The next year I was at the same school with the same people. The only difference was the
newest gadget I was missing out in. Sixth grade brought along the release of the first iPod Touch.
I wanted my own so bad! I had one friend, Michael, who would always let me play on his iPod
in-between classes. Once again, all my friends had their own iPod and I was still stuck with my
Samsung Juke. Until one day, when I was out with my friends, we decided to play catch with my
phone. It was dumb but we were just kids playing around. While we were playing, my phone got
dropped and it snapped in two pieces. I saw this as the prefect opportunity to get my own iPod.
But my mom didnt feel the same way. She knew the cost of an iPod was way out of their budget
and so did I. Yet, I explained how it was an accident and I needed something to contact her when
I wasnt with her. So she looked around and found one of my friends, old LG Chocolate Slide.
Although it wasnt the iPod I wanted, I never really complained about it. I knew my parents did a
lot to support me so I was grateful for what I had. It was a step up from my old phone and it was

in good condition. It was the same keypad I had been used to so it wasnt a difficult transition.
Though, I had to get used to sliding the phone to get to the keys, rather than flipping it.
Two years later ended up being a good year for me. My school announced our partnership
with Apple. This meant all students must have their own iPod or iPad and the school would
provide a MacBook Air for each student from sixth grade through twelfth grade. This meant my
parents had to get me an iPod. Unfortunately, this also meant my tuition would rise, now the cost
was at $17,000 per year. Luckily, my dad got promoted to Purchasing Manager in his company.
This meant that even though the cost for me to go to school rose, we still
had more money to spend on things. So my mom and I looked
online and found a used iPod 2 for $100. She thought this was
reasonable for me, although I didnt agree. The iPhone 4 had just
come out and I felt it was time for me to have something new for
a change. Of course she won that debate so we ordered my iPod
2 and it came in the mail the next week. I was so excited to finally have an iPod. I used it all the
time to play games and I even had Instagram on it. The touch screen was so fascinating to me
and it felt so futuristic.
This was followed by the addition of my next phone. My agreement with Verizon had
ended which meant it was time for me to get a new phone. So we went to the store and as soon as
I walked in I saw the crowd of people around the Apple section. They were all looking to buy the
new iPhone. I didnt even ask my mom to get one, I already knew what the answer would be. So
after waiting for an associate we went to look at the recently reduced, basic cell phones. After
negotiating prices and plans we finally settled on the LG enV 3. It had a cool design and it
flipped to reveal an extended screen and a full QWERTY keypad. The new keypad had small

keys which proved difficult to become accustomed to. Eventually I got the hang of it and enjoyed
using it.
At the end of my Freshman year I finally got my first
iPhone. My enV 3 had been dropped into a pool and was
destroyed. My parents werent really worried about getting me a
new phone until one month later when my family was about to move to North
Carolina. My dad had been given another job promotion that required him to move to Raleigh,
North Carolina. He moved in January while the rest of my family wasnt moving until June.
When I got out of school my dad and I went up to stay in our new home. I was going to be alone
for most of the days, while people came in to work on the house. This is
what prompted my parents to buy me another phone. It was the same
situation as usual, except this time I went to the store with my dad. I
explained how the iPhone 4s just came out and I needed a phone that was
new and user friendly. So we decided on getting the iPhone 4. It was a
little difficult to get used to but I had much free time to figure it out. The design was more
advanced than any phone Id ever had before. There was so much control and so many things I
could do with it.
I always try to remain appreciative to my parents. They work hard and sacrifice a lot to
provide for me and my siblings. At the time, I was more naive but now I understand why they
would want to rush into spending a lot of money on a cell phone for a fifth grader. I have wasted
a lot of money by destroying phones over the years, maybe that is didnt want to spend their hard
earned money on buying me the nicest phones. Getting that iPhone was a big deal to me. It took
a lot of getting used to and I had to figure it out on my own. Nowadays I dont even have to think

about operating my phone, it has become second nature. I unlock my phone, type numbers, and
even text without looking at the screen. And that all started from the numerical keypad on the
Samsung Juke I got in fifth grade.