Greg Karp
September 28, 2006
Writing Workshop – Mr. Brown
This I Believe Essay

The Password to Trust

I've loved technology since the first time I turned on my first computer, a Dell. I believe the trust of people is an essential part of our daily lives. In fifth grade I got my first laptop, an Apple PowerBook G4. I used this laptop for everything; it even helped me learn a lot about how to troubleshoot computers. I used to simulate various problems, and try to figure out how to fix them. It sort of became a hobby of mine. I knew so much about computers, I decided to volunteer some of my after school time, to help in the computer lab.

Every Wednesday in sixth grade, I met with my writing tutor at 4:15 after school. So for the hour I had before my session started, I would go to the computer lab and help the computer teacher update and fix the computers. One day at lunch, the second graders were in the computer lab playing Read, Write, & Type. One of the kids was having trouble playing it, so it had to be star ted up in Mac OS 9. In order to do this, you needed an administrator password. The computer teacher was very busy, so he gave me the administrator password. This was a great feeling, because it really showed that he trusted me, and I felt honored.

This past year in eighth grade, I decided to help out in the computer lab again, at first the teacher didn’t tell me the new password, but after showing him that he could trust me and I was dedicated, he gave me the passwords to all the school’s computers and servers. His trusting me gave me many opportunities to learn more about troubleshooting computers. I learned so much from this experience, that it benefited both of us. I learned how to fix computers, and he had a bit of extra help.

I would like to acknowledge Mr. Brown and my Mom for proofreading this piece.