Growing older is one of the best experiences you can have. You get to experience everything in the moment and experience new things as time goes on. Being young you see everything around you grow with you. You don’t think about how much changes growing up. But when you think back to how your life was when you were younger you realize how different everything is.

Growing up for me was definitely the most fun I know of. I think back to all the moments in my life I can remember as a kid and it makes me want to go back in time to relive that moment. I would always love running around and playing games outside with my friends and family. When I was in elementary school I played baseball. This was so much fun for me because I would always have fun playing the game and playing it with my friends and family. I remember after one of my games in the rain everyone gathered under the concession stand building so we wouldn’t get wet, not because we were all hungry. Like a lot of kids, we couldn’t just stand around dry as there were huge puddles of water everywhere so what di we do? We went out and had fun! We started off by going to the playground. It was like a miniature water park but better because there were no lines we had to wait in. Staying dry in the rain as a kid is like waiting in line at a water park, and we all know how fun that is. After a while of playing on the playground, one of my friends dared my other friends to jump into a huge puddle. Obviously, he didn’t want to turn down a dare so we went over to one of the baseball fields where there was the biggest puddle I’ve ever seen was. My friend ran over to it and slid into it like he was sliding into second base from a short outfield hit. He got so wet and muddy. We saw how much fun he had everyone had to join. Everyone but me. My family came over to get me because they were all ready to leave. I walked over to my family and didn’t get to play in the big puddle. I was upset. Everyone else was running, jumping, and sliding in the puddle and I had to go home and sit inside. I asked my mom if I could join them and she said I couldn’t because she didn’t want me to get dirty because it would dirty the car. I usually go with the flow and do whatever I’m told but I didn’t want t this time so I begged and begged. Finally, she said ok. I ran back over to my friends and turned and look right at my mom and started running. I ran right towards the puddle and dove head first. This puddle wasn’t like I thought it was. This puddle was like diving into the ocean. The water was over my head. Memories like this make me miss life back then.

As I got older I started to hate playing sports. I liked hanging out with my friends but the game wasn’t my thing. The next year when it was time to sign up for baseball I told my mom I didn’t want to play. But it wasn’t that easy. I had to beg for this too. She wanted me to play a sport and do something so that I can be with my friends and have fun but I just didn’t want to play the sport.

After school, I often played outside, went to baseball or basketball, or watched tv. This changed after I quit playing sports. I started having fewer things to entertain me. This is when I started playing video games. I remember playing a SpongeBob game that I would plug those 3 red, yellow, and white wires into the tv and I would just play. I was that easy. All you needed was the tv and the game. You didn’t need anything else because the game was the controller too. Since I played this a lot it became a habit. I would always play it. I even remember bringing it when we went camping.

One day I don’t remember what it was for, I think it was Christmas, my brother, sister, and I all got Game Boys’. We also got a few games like Mario and Pokémon. This was new to me because I never had any technology that I can use in my hand without any wiring. I would love playing Pokémon with my brother and friends and Mario with my dad or my cousins. The Game Boy was basically glued to me. I took it everywhere. It was so cool to me because it was my first experiment of a multiplayer game that I could play with people that are playing the same game on a different device. I remember my two cousins sleeping over. They also had a Game Boy and Mario Kart so we all sat together in the living room on the same couch and played. If you don’t know what Mario Kart is its basically a racing game. So we all played together and we were against each other so it got competitive. I was never the best at it but I would have fun and come in first a few times but not a lot.

As time went on new game consoles kept coming out and we kept getting different game systems. I later got a DS which is similar to the Game Boy but was more updated with the performance and the use. We also got Play Station which was my first game console that connected to the tv, had a remote to control the game and could play different games purchased separately. Only my brother and I played that and sometimes we played with our friends when they came over. I also would bring it to my grandparents’ house when I slept here with my cousin. After that, we got a Wii which was very unique and was played by almost anyone. The memories I had of this were some of the best. I remember playing Guitar Hero with my brother and our friends and we basically had a whole band. Someone would sing, play guitar, bass, or the drums. I learned a lot of old songs that I still remember today. My dad would sometimes like watching because all the music that would play was older music that he knew growing up. The Wii would also set up sports games that you could play against computers or someone who was in the same room as you but by using a different remote. This was my first experience of split-screen gaming. My mom and sister would also play a dancing game but I never paid attention to it because it wasn’t for me. I found this cool because it had everyone playing it even though we had different feelings about the game. I just thought it was cool how it got my mom to play because I can’t really see her playing any game like that.

One day my brother came home from our friends’ house and said he wanted an Xbox and a game he played there. My parents ended up buying it sooner or later and I was surprised. I didn’t know we were getting it and I’ve never heard of it. My brother started playing it and I watched for a while but later joined in. This game was different for me, it was Call of Duty. This is the game that got me truly addicted. I would always come home from school and ask my brother to play. When we didn’t play I would be disappointed because I couldn’t play against anyone. One day we bought Xbox Live, I had no idea what it was. But it was basically a subscription to connect online and to play with other people around the world. This was mind-blowing. I had no idea that this was even possible. I remember my first match online, it was crazy. I never played with so many people, I was only used to playing just against my brother. Online you could play on teams of six. You could also talk to people through the game chat. This blew my mind even more. You could talk to the people you’re playing with that might live hundreds of miles away that you never met before.

This was so addicting. I couldn’t stop playing it. Every day after school I would come home and play it. I couldn’t play it all the time because I had to switch and take turns with my brother. This was not easy since I was addicted to the game. When I would play and my brother wanted a turn he would always bother me when I would give it up. He wouldn’t yell for my mom but instead, he would keep shutting off the game with the other Xbox remote. This made me upset. One time when it was his turn and I wanted to play I did the same thing. This wasn’t the smartest idea because he got mad. After a while of me bothering him he got up and chased me, I ran outside because the house is too small and ill get trapped and he would catch me so I ran outside. I ran behind the house and my brother picked up rooks from the driveway. He started chasing me around the house throwing rocks at me. I was scared for my life but it was a good thing I was faster and he couldn’t aim well. I was luckily saved by my mom who yelled at him for throwing rocks.

As time went on my mom ended up getting me a sperate Xbox so we wouldn’t fight each other to play. We started playing together and I also played on my own. I got good at the game because I played it so much and became competitive. Playing it every day also had a bad effect on my home life and still does. I often ignored homework and played Xbox. That was a whole headache of its own that I’m not going to go into detail about.

When the next Xbox came out, I had to get that. I also played that every day and still to this day play it a lot. Over my childhood technology has become a norm. Growing up all the technology surprised me because I never knew anything about it. But now that we all live with technology it’s not as exciting. Sometimes we expect a lot more out of technology than we can actually have. Today the new exciting this happing with technology is happening on bigger things like cars. This is something that is crazy to think about just like how crazy I thought it was to play online against people around the world as a kid. Technology will never stop growing and it becomes better every day.