Applicant #1: Jacqueline Nelson

Jacqueline Nelson is a 20-year-old from O'Fallon.

Jacqueline's video application:

Jacqueline's current situation:

Currently I am a full-time student at Lindenwood University in the LCIE Program. I am a Communications major. I recently just graduated from St. Charles Community College with my Associates degree in Communications. Besides going to school I have two jobs. I work as a crew worker at Pizza Hut in O'fallon MO and I also am a daycare assistant at a home daycare.

Jacqueline's blog post:

Since the beginning of time technology has united families together. Technology made it fun and entertaining to be in the same room as your loved ones and be on the same subject matter as one another. Since the invention of the television and the radio we have not had any form of technology that has brought families together the way those early inventions did.

The invention of the radio was a phenomenon. It was a rare wonder to hear a person’s voice over the radio. Families would gather around the radio and listen closely to their favorite show and favorite song. Soon after the radio came along the television was not too far behind. The television did the same job as a radio. There was one per household and the family already knew what time and channel their favorite show was coming on. Unfortunately since these early times things have changed. Now it seems television is not so rare. In most homes there is a television in almost every bed room, living room, and even kitchen. Now every member of the family can choose to watch television with their family. Most of the time the choice is to watch their own show privately. Instead of the radio, we now have personal MP3 players, iPods, and PCs. These small devices are made for personal use and it basically shuts out the rest of the world. None of the new forms of technology make it e asy to share a close bond with another person.

I brought this subject to a friend and she asked me “Well what about shows like American Idol?” I stopped and thought. I agreed she had a point but exactly how many people really watch shows like that with their families and also how many shows like that do we have? Her response was “Not a lot, you’re right.” I tried to think of other forms of technology that could bond families. I thought of game systems like the Wii and Kinetic. True these have the ability to bond families together but these are really for friends to play. Even when playing with friends you don’t have to be in the same room as your friend.

The first radios and televisions were also expensive. Since they were so expensive there was usually only one per household. Now we have personal music players, televisions, computers, and game systems to keep us occupied. These items are not as expensive and were able to own multiples of each.

It seems as if technology of today is easily attainable and does nothing but separate us from the rest of the world. It does not bring us together. Ask yourself when was the last time you watched television with your family or spent time doing something with them you both enjoy with or even without technology. Ask yourself then go spend time with a loved one.

Jacqueline