# data[].attributes.body
I spoke with my Physician’s Assistant, Rick Allen. He was born in 1954. When asked what technology he used during his time in school, he responded with a funnily bewildered look and a confused, “Um, a #2 pencil?” 🤭 He defined himself as Old School and proceeded to tell me his tales of the ‘good old days’. It seems he longs for the comfort and familiarity of plain and simple handwriting. He detailed his struggle with medical programs and codes. This does not deter proficiency in medicine nor his need to help others, as he writes all his notes on a pad and asks his Scribe to put them in the computer for him. He ended the interview with a sly, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

# data[].attributes.body
During his interview, I learned Rick was a 3x published author! His true passion is creating children’s joke books. I asked what techniques he uses to create new jokes: “I keep my pen and pad on me at all times and when a funny comes to mind, I jot it down for everyone to enjoy later on”.

It’s abundantly clear that he’s utilized his technology of handwriting to propel him forward in his writing journey and medical career. His discomfort with any other types of tech can be attributed to his generation, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I’ve read his books with my young nephews and have yet to hear them laugh as loud as they did turning those pages, it’s clear he’s doing a great job.

# data[].attributes.body
My second interviewee was my father, Edward Madrid. Born 1963 in a small, poor city in East Los Angeles to a large Chicano family with many brothers and sisters. He recalls school being very simple, similar to the previous generation, especially because our family’s financial situation did not allow for the newest technology to pass through his hands. What he does remember is the fight against the new Texas Instruments calculator that had just been introduced to schools! They were banned in classrooms nationwide and students were discouraged from using them even in the comfort of their own home. Educators were close minded and stuck to their old ways which ultimately resulted in my father never using a calculator during his time in school. Hard to believe! 🧮

# data[].attributes.body
The year was 1983, my father had just turned 20 and he got his hands on the brand new Apple Lisa, it was the first commercial personal computer available to the public made by Macintosh. He remembered the day like it was yesterday. He recalled all the assembly and moving parts required, like wires and floppy discs, technology that has now been rendered useless.

On that fateful day, his first log in was to his bank. He celebrated animatedly when the blue screen showed nothing but his account balance. There were no options, no deposits, no transfers, just “You have $64.92 in your account” and boy was he excited to witness this advancement. To our youth today, it’s hard to grasp just how quickly technology has expanded to encapsulate our entire lives. The generational gap between my fathers age group and my own is a constant cause of contention in the educational world. As children, we must remember those who did not have the privilege to learn tech. And as adults, it is vital to keep up with the flow of progress and not hold back our younger students success because of their discomfort.

# data[].attributes.body
Overhearing our conversation, my mother, Jennifer Madrid born 1973, provided her experience in school as well. She used typewriters up until her freshman year of high school where she was frustrated and annoyed at the super slow, noisy dial up internet. She recalls 10 students huddling around one giant block IBM computer just to stare at a neon blue screen that gave little to no information. Her frustration was only furthered with the introduction of Algebra in her Senior year of HS, prior to 1990 it was never a requirement. However, with technology advancing at such at rapid pace from the 90s to 00s, she witnessed two worlds during her educational development. Because her teachers introduced her to this new technology, she was able to adapt to future iterations of progress. Even today I notice she’s much quicker at learning new devices as opposed to my father.

# data[].attributes.body
My nephew, Elias Madrid was born in 2015. He’s currently 7 years old and incredibly bright. He was an IPad kid, you never saw him without a tablet or some type of huge device. The way he’s able to navigate apps and games with a speed and swiftness that I never expected at such a young age, is astounding.

Elias experienced Pre-K and Kindergarten fully virtually. I’d love to watch him interact with his teacher and friends through Zoom, he’d burst out of his seat every few minutes if something was funny or he was excited about the lesson.  To him, there was no baseline for education established before the Pandemic, all he’s known is virtual school. Educators would argue this is detrimental to his development, yet as soon as school and community sports opened up, he flocked to those easily and had no trouble making friends he’d only ever spoken to through a screen.

Now, entering the 1st grade, his teacher recommends psychological testing because he is far too advanced for the material she currently has set for her students. I know his future will be bright and couldn’t be happier to witness this new generation thrive. 👨‍🎓