Jungdo(Jason) Park

Jason Park's literacy narrative.

How i became a (ASIAN) B.IT student

 BIT, the course that I am studying, is a combination of informatics, information science and computer science. We, BIT students, have much more modules to study than other students. It is very difficult and it is very difficult to make a timetable without subjects that clash. This is the reason that my course will be discontinued from next year which means my BIT group students will be the last group who study BIT.

 People say that it’s quite obvious that an Asian man should study Information Technology. But I.T got my full attention only just before I applied for University of Pretoria.

 My parents had a computer before I was born. I was exposed to Information Technology since I was young. I played games, watched movies and series and searched on the internet, but I was not really interested in Information Technology even though I grew up in a country (Korea) which has some of the best technology in the world.

 I got interested in Information Technology when I got into high school in South Africa. I took Information Technology as a subject and I was enjoying it but there was a problem. It was my English level. My English was not very good, so I could not understand the classes. I had to discontinue the subject and focus more on English. It was a very bad excuse to stop programming, but even my parents told me to stop. It was only 3 months of programming experience, but I was really enjoying it.

 Just before applying to university, I saw the course called BIT in University of Pretoria brochure. BIT caught my interest immediately. I wanted to continue programming which I had enjoyed a lot earlier in my life, even though it was for a very short time. Because I started programming late and my English is not perfect, I am struggling with it. Sometimes I cannot understand the lectures fully, but I try to concentrate in every single lecture.

 I met great friends, Anrich and Luke who became my best friends, who are more than willing to help me to understand properly. Because of them, I can understand and do better work which makes me enjoy my studies more.

 I am not Information Technology literate yet, but my friends who are Information Technology literate are helping me become Information Technology literate. I am enjoying the challenges presented by learning the skills required to succeed in BIT, and I look forward to taking on the rest of the degree with my friends. Once I have completed my studies I have to return to Korea to join the military for two years of compulsory service, but afterwards I would like to look for a career in IT and/or programming abroad. I am not sure where I would like to work one day yet, but I hope that I can travel and look for somewhere where I will enjoy working as a programmer.

 I am not sure about my future yet, but I know that programming is something that I love to do, and I can see myself making a career in IT one day. It might be difficult to get there, but that is the reason that I became a BIT student.

Argumentative Essay: Introduciton paragraph
 The correlation between exposure to violent video games, and aggressive behaviour 

An argument prevalent in the technological age we find ourselves in is that exposure to violent videos games encourages aggressive behaviour by the youth. My argument is that children and adolescents who are exposed to violent games do not become aggressive or violent, neither during adolescence, nor during later stages in life. I will support my thesis by referring to research that I have conducted. Firstly I will argue that video games can have positive effects on the players thereof. Thereafter I will refer to the minimal effect that violent video game exposure has on consumers, and lastly I will analyse statistics that supports my argument.

Sources used in essay:
Ferguson, C., San Miguel, C., Garza, A. and Jerabeck, J. 2012. A longitudinal test of video game violence influences on dating and aggression: A 3-year longitudinal study of adolescents. Journal of psychiatric research, 46 (2), pp. 141--146.

Ferguson, C., Garza, A., Jerabeck, J., Ramos, R. and Galindo, M. 2013. Not worth the fuss after all? Cross-sectional and prospective data on violent video game influences on aggression, visuospatial cognition and mathematics ability in a sample of youth. Journal of youth and adolescence, 42 (1), pp. 109--122.

Jeanne, B., Debra, D., Buchman, B., Jenksa, J. Bechtoldta, H. 2003. Playing violent video games, desensitization, and moral evaluation in children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 24 (4), p413–436.

Scott, D. 1995. The effect of video games on feelings of aggression. The Journal of Psychology, 129 (2), pp. 121--132.