Introduction

As a kid, mass media was something that I grew up with. Living in the 90's, media was all about books, newspapers, magazines, movies, recordings, radio, television and the emergence of the internet.

Like any other person, in order to connect to media, you'd have to start with reading and books were something that I grew up with. Although I never really read many books these days, if I were to say what my favorite genre were, they would be science fiction and fantasy.  When I was in elementary school the Harry Potter books were the most popular series of all time, every year or two a new novel would be released and I would always be excited to turn those pages and read them. However, as the internet emerged and technology was beginning to play a significant impact in my life, books became less interesting.

Newspapers were something that I generally do not read because articles can be found on the internet. I did however, used to read the newspapers merely out of boredom when I was in high school. Whenever something interesting popped up I would take scissors and clip some articles for keep sake. Even though I never read newspapers, I keep up on current events through the internet and news feeds for websites.

As said with newspapers, magazines are also something I never touch mainly because everything is becoming digitized, which shows that there is less of a need for physical media like books, magazines, or even newspapers.

Movies were a big part of my life and they still are today. Every week, I make it a habit to watch at least one movie mainly, either new or old, mainly because as a child I never had the chance to buy VHS or DVDs quite often, so as a result I was stuck rewatching movies I had at home.

Recordings are something I listen to all the time, I am a big fan of classical music and as well as classic rock. I love listening to music because it helps inspire me, and it also helps me get through an entire day. I would have to say that music is something that has impacted me as a kid and as an adult today because it helps shapes what my interests are and how I perceive the world.

As with recordings, radio is something I occasionally listen to on the way to school. My favorite station would either have to be 107.7 The Bone or 101.2 KDFC, and these stations contrast each other completely. The station 107.7 consists of classic rock and some current rock whereas 101.2 is all about classical music. I find that even though these stations differ greatly, I still find some enjoyment in listening to them.


Television is also another huge part of my life, and it's something I tend to enjoy watching. As with any other 90's kids, I loved watching cartoons. One particular show that had a huge impact on my life was Batman The Animated Series, because it was the first cartoon to ever portray the title character in such a dark manner, and the animation was absolutely gorgeous. I also watch a variety of other television shows, one of which I am currently watching is Community.

 Internet has played a huge role in my life because it is everywhere. The internet is something that has taken over literally every form of media. As a kid I grew up with the emergence of the internet and it was something new and it is still something that is being developed. My experience with the internet lies with reading the news, watching videos, streaming audio, and playing video games. I cannot imagine life without the internet because it is extremely convenient. I can also not imagine what people did with their free time without the internet.

As an Economics major, media is something that is important because it follows the laws of supply and demand. Economics is related to media in many ways, one example would have to be the declining demand for physical media and the high demand of digital media. Possibly in the foreseeable future, media will become digitized and that physical media will just become something you see in museums or left for archives. After De Anza I hope to transfer to UC San Diego to continue to pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Economics, and possibly even complete a PHD, if possible.