School Projects: A Yesterday and Today Story

Whenever I ask my mom to talk about how her school days went by, she’d always tell me that almost every after class, she would have to go to the library and skim through heavy books to find answers for the homework. But then she recalls how she felt thankful amidst carrying the heaviest books because most of the time, there aren’t any.

As I listened to that story for a thousandth time, I still cannot imagine living a life far away from Google and YouTube, the two reliable platforms I love to use. I cannot envision myself carrying loads of books for a one-item homework because today, everything is so available and searchable. But since I listened to that story for a thousand times already, I felt the need to somehow compare and appreciate the two generations.

Needless to say, I appreciate the creation and dominance of the Internet today because every information felt so near to my palms. Other than the availability, I am also grateful for how instantly I can receive answers to my questions, and how even I, though I am not yet professional, can give answers to curious people through various social media platforms.

But after typing that, I suddenly realized one fact—I am not yet professional, I do not have a license nor degree of any kind that will authorize my act of answering their questions. Why am I given the opportunity to do something I am yet to master? But more than anything, since I was given that chance, then most probably, everyone else too has the opportunity to provide information in the wide array of Internet regardless of who they are!

That thought just made me appreciate my mom’s generation and how they worked hard for the information they needed. Indeed, it was hard for them to seek for the answers, but they know what reliable information looks like from the certification, preface, content, and bibliography that each book contains. It was difficult for them, but it was worth the hardship because it was reliable. For us millennials, it is easy to find answers. We must therefore find a way too on how to segregate incorrect information to truthful ones.