Technology is an escape to a whole new dimension where students are able to interact with peers in a way that was never possible before. While technology is second nature to many teenagers today, many faculty members remember a time when the internet and smartphones didn’t exist.

“You don’t realize what you are missing out on, but as you grow older, you see things,” librarian Robyn Singletary said.

The older generation recorded memories in scrapbooks or kept them in the back of their minds. There was no iCloud or Google Drive to hold and cherish their precious moments.

Many individuals feel that we are fortunate to be in a century and generation where the world is at our fingertips; with that being said, teenagers rely heavily on their technology to function.

“I use Google Hangout and iMessage[to connect with friends],” freshman Anand Colaco said.

A significant change that Singletary witnessed has been the changing size of phones and how people utilize them.

“We had cordless telephones- they were huge- and then they got smaller and smaller,” Singletary said.

Because people in the 70s never knew when they would need to make a call [with a payphone], they always had to be prepared with spare change.

“You always kept a dime and then it went up to a quarter,” Singletary said. “People had something called ‘penny loafers’ where they kept change in the flaps of their shoes in case of emergencies.”

Current students rely on their phones around the clock for educational and social purposes.

History contains memories of our youth and modern technology has changed the way faculty and students experience historical events.

“I was part of [events such as] the Miracle on Ice, the Russians boycotting the Olympics, the Iranian Hostage Crisis and when President Nixon resigned, which was a big deal,” speech and debate teacher Barbara Clougherty said. “I was part of everything, and because everything was on TV, it was a shared experience.”

This year the world observed the 15th year anniversary of 9/11, a day dedicated to remembering those who lost their lives. Most faculty members will never forget where they were that day, but current students were too young to grasp what was happening and will never understand what it was like to live in a pre-9/11 world.

“Students were babies during 9/11” Singletary said. “It changed my life to know that there was that much hatred in the world.”

The extent of these dramatic events has not had a direct emotional effect on the previous generation.

Since attending high school herself in the late 1970s, Singletary has noticed a distinct improvement in the way students interact with each other.

“The students that were once babies are coming together with each other, and when I look around in the library, I see friendships that have been created,” Singletary said. “You see black, white, Asian and Hispanic students all mixing together as friends, and that’s a big difference.”

t’s our turn to create history, and teachers and technology are here to help us reach our potential.

“[Students and teachers] all have love for each other,” sophomore Lizzie Han said. “We want to learn, they want to teach and we both share that connection.”  

Historical events and technological advancement have defined our ideals and changed the way we interact with the world, but adaptation is the vital link that allows us to connect from one generation to another.