What is this thing called computer?

Write about your first computer.

The first time I physically was introduced to a computer was, wait 1999. Four years after the first democratic election in South Africa. Being a woman of color in a country with a history of race discrimination named apartheid.

There I was first year in a college, with privilege kids, who probably was years ahead with technology.

I can recall walking into the computer class, feeling, scared, humiliated and intimidated. So afraid that my class mates would see, I don’t know how a computer works. So I sat at a desk obviously accompanied with a computer.I looked and stared at the computer in an unnoticeable way. Hoping the computer might somehow give me a clue of what it was.

Then somehow it waved a hint to me this round like flat knob at the bottom should be pressed to get me started. I sighed a relieve, got this thing started let’s see if it will give me some more hints. The lecturer noticed in what I thought was unnoticeable “I don’t know” behavior and asked me to come around to her class afterwards if I am interested to get some beginner computer basics training.

That was my first experience of and with a computer. If I were to tell the new age generation, I was 19 when I first saw a computer, they will probably think I am exaggerating a bit. In my defense the whole first time computer experience, to me at that time and thinking back still felt like this huge transformational bridge that I had to walk over, not look down to see the height, which will instigate only fear and visualize that the other side of the scary wobbly brigde is this new world with beautiful and wonder experiences, just waiting to be unraveled.