Broadband Changing Lives

A Sampling of "Broadband Changed My Life!" 2008 Contest Entries:

Patty Arnold
I work with people who are blind or visually impaired, deafblind, and sometimes with other disabilities. Some are homebound, and the internet makes a huge difference for them to feel connected with friends and family, to do various types of research, (including medical), and to buy what they need online. This gives them more control over their lives, and they are not as dependent on others, something very important to them.

In addition I know colleagues with a visual disability who use broadband internet in their work, to be competitive. One of my students, a quadraplegic with a visual impairment completed his PhD and got a job this way. To do these tasks with dial-up would not work, because of the slow speed with today's advanced feature websites. With Broadband and the correct assistive technology to make the computer talk, use large print, or accept voice input, the sky is the limit! For these reasons I believe it is vital for broadband to be widely available to all, for equality for all.

Kierstan Ball
Almost two years ago I was diagnosed with dysautonomia. This disorder is very unknown in the medical world, and it is very difficult to treat because the symptoms are so varied and there is no cure. Without going into all the specifics, there are a few symptoms that make attending school extremely difficult. The extreme fatigue makes a lot of patients bedridden, and the brain fog that accompanies the disorder can make it very difficult to concentrate.

At one point, I was no longer able to finish my undergraduate studies because I didn't have enough energy to attend classes. Broadband internet was my answer. I was able to finish all the pre-requisites for graduate school by taking online courses. Broadband also allowed me to communicate with others around the world who suffer from the same disorder. Having that online support was the only thing that helped me to accept my disorder, and allowed me to move on and not let the disorder take over my life. I am lucky in that I have found a medication that alleviates enough of my fatigue that I can now make it to classes. It's still a daily struggle, but I have constant support from my online family.

Without broadband, I would not be enrolled in physician assistant school working towards my masters degree so that I can one day help others like myself who are diagnosed with difficult disorders. Broadband saved my life and my dreams, and I will forever be grateful for the opportunities it has given me.

Natassja Bates
Broadband internet made a powerful impact on my life during my undergraduate internship at a Center for Independent Living, where I worked with individuals who were deaf to aid them in attaining web cameras to facilitate more effective communication. Prior to my internship, I did not own a computer, and only utilized the Internet at the school computer lab to conduct research for school papers and projects. Realizing the power of the Internet and how technology could be used to bring people together in new and different ways was a significant part of my work with the deaf and hard of hearing community during that internship. That experience has influenced me to pursue my graduate degree in rehabilitation counseling, where I?m learning how to work with clients with disabilities to teach them, among other things, to use technology in general and the Internet in particular, as a tool to procure employment, maintain social connections with friends and family members, and become self-advocates through online support groups. I know that the Internet has not only changed my life in this particular way, but also those of countless other individuals, and I'm sure that as technology develops and continues to become even more sophisticated, more lives will be impacted for the better.

Robert Beck
I am currently an instrumentation technician in the oil/gas sector of the energy field and I am constently using the internet at home and at work to better my career and my personal life. I have 3 laptops that I work from, two at home and one at work(one for school and one for play). The internet has revolutionized my generation. When I was a child my father use to work late night on his bbs(bulliten board systems dos based) and I would learn as much as I could about what he was doing because it was so fascinating. This led me to work through high school taking electronics and cad courses so that I could go into the workforce and be prepared for the advancement of technology that was rapidly approaching my generation and the next to come.

Well it's been 12 years and Ive been in the oil/gas industry for 10 years and I've seen the advancements in technology that the internet and broadband brought and how it has revolutionized the not only this industry from satellite communications that page you anywhere to notify of a potential problem on equipment to the plc(proggrammable logic controllers) we use to opperate the machinery to the scada networks that are based off of broadband so that we can monitor equipment from a safe and homley environment instead of being out in the muck and dirt.

This technology has been a life saver in more ways than some and in this industry and in west Texas its crucial to our way of life. I could go on and on about it but the truth is that without it I couldnt have the ease of contacting a vendor and getting schematics or parts numbers or just plain info for my job without the broadband revolution and the technology it has brought with it. This has been a destroyer for some but a lifesaver for many. Technology is our greatest ally in the fight we have to better ourselves and this world.

Jayne Britweiser
When I was growing up, my mom who worked in Africa would tell me stories about the people she helped there -- stories about children without access to water, food, shelter, and (occasionally) freedom. When people turn a blind eye to this sort of poverty it eventually breeds dissent which leads to war.

Genocide, war, and famine are not uncommon in undeveloped countries, and there are several key ingredients needed to improve these peoples' quality of life to the point that war is no longer an issue. The most important ingredients include: food, water, shelter, healthcare, and education.

There are countless charity groups and government programs helping to provide people with food, water, and housing, and healthcare; but what about education? Engineering contests all over the world are working on bringing inexpensive computers to children in places like rural Africa, but that does little to help if they don?t have internet. Setting up free broadband wireless networks in undeveloped rural areas does more than bring free online classes and unlimited access to information to the next generation, and enable some long-distance healthcare; it also makes work easier for government programs overseas.

With wireless broadband, organizations like AFRICOM and the Peace Corps can communicate more efficiently and inexpensively (no satellite required); but more importantly the next generation will have the tools they need to begin the process of reducing the poverty of their nation, and becoming a developed and sophisticated country.

Rhonda Browning
As I type on a computer given to me by the brother of a nurse I met at the Red Cross shelter in Hattiesburg Mississippi following Katrina, I think often of how different my life would be without this conglomeration of several brands of technology and that little wire coming out of my bedroom wall that has been resoldered several times and replaced twice thanks to the pointed teeth of a busy pet rabbit.

When my computer arrived at my FEMA trailer in Vidalia Louisiana I, at first, could not afford Internet or phone lines, but I used it, typing a charter for a New Orleans school and slipping the disk into a connected machine at the local library to email my contributions to my co-writers. But once I got my money from FEMA, I did something rather remarkable, even for me, always an independent spirit.

My mind had been numbed by the stresses of the previous months. I needed intellectual stimulation and the 10 or so hours a week surfing and e-mailing on the library computers were not enough. So I hooked my computer up to Broadband and went back to school.

This might not seem so odd until you consider that I was in a FEMA trailer, nowhere near a college with graduate level programs, 56 years old, had not attended college in over 20 years, and was going with technology that did not exist when I typed my Masters Degree papers on an IBM Correcting Selectric. I am getting an Ed.S in Instructional Leadership and Educational Technology entirely online. I attend Northwestern State University in Natchitoches Louisiana. It is a whole new area of education for me, an educator of children with severe disabilities and it is challenging.

Thanks to Broadband I can go online and read my lectures, use Blackboard to discuss with classmates, write and submit essays and term papers, look for more resources and contact my professor, all while 150 miles away from the school.

I can go on line at 2AM or 6PM. I can write an entire term paper using only online resources, both from educational journals and from the ERIC database in the Watson Library at Northwestern State. I don't have to worry about parking or dinner and I was back online only a few days after I had cancer surgery.

When I got my Masters in 1983 I wanted to go on and get my Ed.S and my Leadership certificate, but I had found going to school as much as 4 nights a week and working full time very difficult even in my youth. At this point it would have been impossible. But going online takes only perseverance, school loans and a computer with Broadband.

Putting my life back together and learning things that did not even exist 20 years ago has given me a life is challenging and satisfying again and I no longer have that numbness that often accompanies a major life crisis. I never want to be without my Internet.

Adrienne Chamberlin
Ten years ago I moved back into my parent's home to recover from brain tumor surgery. That's when we got our first computer with Internet access. At graduate school I'd had access to computers, but the university email system was all I used or needed. I took my research from books and literary journals, and had no real dependence on the web. I'd never heard of "Googling" anything.

But at home, unable to get out on my own, I was very isolated from both childhood friends who'd moved away, and grad school friends whose lives were very different and hours away from mine. The huge impact the Internet had for me was 24-hour contact with everybody. A quick email was much easier than a phone call and more immediate than a letter. My doctors could consult with each other about my tests via email and I could have their opinions, often without traveling long distances to be seen quickly in person (cutting down somewhat on my medical costs, and their time).

Years have gone on, and I am still at home for the time being, dealing with various tumor relapses and problems. I use the expanding Internet more than ever. I write short biographies for a portrait artist (whose work travels around the country), and the ability to do research (and contact the subjects themselves) would be impossible for me to do outside of home. The web impacts me by literally enabling me to carve out a very small niche in the world of writers. Online, my love of knitting and reading, rather than being solitary activities, opened up for me with an explosion of blogs, crafting communities, charity groups (where I am increasing my computer skills by moderating some of them), and friendships with good people I doubt I will ever meet in person.

My life would be so insular right now without the Internet, and I would ask the new President to consider being certain high speed access is available to everyone. Many of us live in rural areas, but we are by no means unaware of the world around us, and we need to be able to participate in it fully. Dialup is most certainly better than no access at all, but in the world to come - it just won't be enough. Thank you!

Briana Floyd
I along with my other college-aged peers serve as today's pre-professionals and tomorrow's innovators. Our future careers will ultimately determine the direction every job industry in America will take over the next few decades. Therefore, it should be duly noted that my generation has been deemed the most tech-savvy of its time, a trait that serves as a key indicator of the direction in which society is heading.

That being said, it is vital that attention be directed to how the United States equips its citizens technologically in order to stay ahead in a competitive global market. The move towards a digital world cannot be thwarted. The advantages of traditional processes becoming computerized are innumerable. The lack of competitive broadband services available to United States inhabitants creates a narrower job market and also denies anyone without exceptional broadband service and updated technology of all the benefits and opportunities these tools have the potential to provide.

Perhaps this point could be best illustrated with examples from my very own personal experiences in how broadband has changed my life. As an African-American female, setting my goal of becoming an engineer was an ambitious move in a field still dominated by men and also lacking significantly in minorities. I understood completely that I would have two stigmas to foil in pursuing my career goals as an undergraduate. I also understood that I would have to lay my foundation in exceptional science and math curricula from an early point in my education to make my dream a reality. I was fortunate enough to get accepted into a Science and Technology program at a high school in my county freshman year. The trip via bus was an hour to and fro, but I was delighted, however, to arrive my first day to discover a computer in every classroom, a library fully stocked with interactive learning modules, lecture halls with state-of-the art projection systems and movie screens instead of chalkboards. The experiences I had as a high school student opened up so many doors of opportunity for me that might not have otherwise been within the scope of my wildest imaginings. Most importantly, I was able to fulfill my entitlement to a well-rounded education that made my career goals a tangible possibility.

The high school also had a huge student body, approximately 3,000 students, of which the majority was minorities. I was attending a school that was largely African-American but still enjoying the amenities typical of the charter, private and college-preparatory schools of high income areas that usually have lower minority populations.

It is only with sufficient broadband networking that institutions of learning such as the one I was privileged to attend are able to thrive. I genuinely do feel like so much of the opportunity that I received as an undergraduate accepted to an Ivy League institution was directly related to the unique curriculum my high school was able to develop around technology. The resources available to me then were able to bridge the gap and make me as qualified, if not more, than my college peers. I often stop to reflect on where so many of my high school peers are now as a result of the education we received. As our undergraduate careers come to a close, many of my fellow high school alums have job offers for prestigious engineering firms and will have starting salaries that easily are greater than those of the low-income two parent households of their childhoods, or in my situation, the one-parent household relying on a meager teacher's salary.

The implications of good broadband networks are too advantageous to be discounted. Had the Science and Technology program not existed, my high school would have been just another institution busing in kids from urban complexes and many of us would continue to achieve below our peers in environments with greater resources, not because we are incapable, but because we are underserved.

Jeff Johnson
As someone who lives in rural East Tennessee, I can definitely say that broadband Internet access has changed aspects of my life as well as the lives of many others in similar communities. People who grow up in a small town tend to think in small terms. We have a store, a gas station or two, and the hometown bank. No one takes the time to consider the world at large and how "folks" in other cities, counties, states, and countries impact us.

The availability of high-speed Internet access opens up a whole new realm of the human experience that might otherwise be lacking in this setting. With a few clicks we can now get regional, national, and international news, up to the minute political information, and become educated on the happenings in the world.

Broadband Internet opens up a whole host of new job opportunities from the major job search sites such as Monster.com and Yahoo! Hotjobs to those that may otherwise not be aware of them. It also opens the possibility for attending online colleges as I do, or telecommuting to work.

When I first considered "how broadband changed my life" it didn't immediately occur to me that it really had. I now realize that broadband offers many advantages to those of us in rural America. It offers job opportunities, education, news, and the ability to connect with others in ways that would otherwise be impractical or even impossible.

Christina Joseph
During the middle of winter, deep in rural Oklahoma far from any Wal-mart or familiar face, I prayed to Jesus and I cried for help. My three small children and I were physically abused, ashamed, and scared. I contacted counselors, family, and friends, through my wireless internet connection. I realized that I could get to a safe place; that we didn't have to suffer and live in fear any more. I was able to reach out and get help through the computer to people who cared about us. I thank God for the wireless Internet; it was literally a life line. We left with only what we could carry. No car, no money, only a hand full of hope. When we arrived at the women's shelter, I was glad to be safe. Unfortunately, there was no internet service. Therefore, I was limited in my ability to contact family members. Once we arrived in Florida to live with my family I had wireless Internet at my finger tips again. I was able to look for a job that allowed my children to come with me to work. I happily accepted that job. I became connected with government benefits. I was able to research domestic violence, and contact local women shelters that offered, and gave support. After three months I applied for college, the Pell grant, and other scholarships all using my wireless connection. I am even taking half my classes online. I'm grateful that our lives have changed for the better since those dark days in Oklahoma. Broad band has been a tool in my hand to help me better myself for society, and bring my children to a safe place. My prayer was answered, my cry was heard and broad band was a part of that.

Ashley Kinney
A large pyramid stood in front a me, a view that I had seen on postcards and in movies. But it was real; I was here, in Egypt! My trance was interrupted by a young girl dirty face, worn clothes tugging on my t-shirt. "Are you American?" she asked slowly and shyly through her Arabic Egyptian accent.

"Yes" I said.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"Ashley." I replied with a smile.

"Like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen!" She said with excitement.

"Yes, like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen." I laughed.

She then looked deep into my eyes, took a breath, and said something I could tell had been troubling her for a long time. "Ashley, do the kids in America want peace?" Time stopped, it was in this moment that the pyramids, the sand, and everything that I thought was Egypt disappeared. All that remained was this young girl, all of the people, all the children that were this country. I realized that countries should not just be defined by the history and geography we see in books and movies, or what we happen catch on the evening news, instead the country is the people. The culture was the soul of this place, and of all the places that make up our diverse world.

I came home from Egypt and my other abroad travels, and shared the culture and language with the student of Roosevelt Elementary, the school where I volunteer. By bringing the world to life with stories and pictures, I awakened curiosity and solidarity in the children that I taught. They wanted a connection, they wanted to know the children and see into their lives. I wished that I could have given that to them.

Most people have not, and will not have the opportunity to visit far away countries, and experience other parts of the world. As I begin my masters in teaching program this fall, I have a dream as a future educator where broadband internet plays a vital role. I want to connect the children across borders to promote compassion and understanding. Cultural acceptance and the promotion of diversity is what I feel our world needs. If the children speak with, web cam with, and e-mail students in other countries we could witness a deepened consciousness and understanding of the value of love and life. Just like the U.S Postal Service, and the telephone Broadband internet is connecting us to one another, access to this technology for children and teachers all over the world would achieve so much. Let's use the technology of broadband internet to create a compassionate global community, and a more beautiful world.

Jeanette Landin
Without broadband, the activities in my life and my quality of living would be nearly impossible to maintain even five years ago. Because of broadband, I am able to support my family with one parent's income without having to be away from home, which enriches not only my life but also lives of my children. Broadband has touched my family's existence in many positive ways. We are now able to communicate via webcam with family in other parts of the country, which keeps the family ties strong.

Because of broadband, I am able to deliver highly effective and relevant teaching to adult learners who are training for 21st century careers. The internet via broadband allows me to tap resources from around the world to bring concepts to life for my students and to help reach displaced workers and students in remote areas who would otherwise not have access to rich learning opportunities. With broadband access, I am able to attend my own courses from anywhere in the world at any time. The experience I gain from internet-based communications enhances both my teaching and my learning.

Broadband access enables me to make informed decisions about our country's democratic process by allowing me to compare our presidential candidates without media intervention. I am also able to participate in the process by joining the presidential campaign effort. Broadband has helped me to become a more productive and effective citizen of not only the United States but of our world.

Monica Yun Liu
I was born in China, and though I moved to the United States when I was three years old, almost all of my family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins) lives in China. Due to difficulties with costs and taking time off of school or work, I have visited them only twice in my life, in the summers of 2000 and 2007. Until two summers ago, I had not met my family on my father's side since I was an infant. I talked to them only rarely on the phone and sent back pictures every year at best. We hardly knew each other. Then in late 2006, two things happened: we upgraded our home Internet service from dial-up to broadband, and my paternal grandmother was hospitalized with shortness of breath, numbness, and kidney failure.

We immediately arranged to use online video messaging, not previously possible with our slow dial-up connection, to keep in contact with my family and receive frequent updates about my grandmother's health. Using broadband, we learned that though her symptoms worsened, her doctors could not diagnose the cause. Finally, between online research and talking with friends, my parents discovered that my grandmother was suffering from the complications of diabetes, a long-standing condition that her doctors had somehow overlooked. Over our broadband connection, we relayed this information to my family in China, and soon my grandmother was well enough to leave the hospital. For the first time in both our lives, I talked to her face to face online.

Since then, I've gotten to know my family using broadband in a way that I never could over the phone or with dial-up. When I visited them in 2007, we met not as strangers but truly as family. Broadband brought my family from halfway around the world to my home computer, and it literally helped save my grandmother's life. Moreover, I am now using broadband to research MD and MD-PhD programs for my future, and one day I will apply to those programs online. With the help of broadband, I intend to become a physician in order to improve the health and lives of people like my grandmother.

Brianna Lyons
In an advanced technological age of living you do not seem to realize how important these advanced are to your everyday life until you are in a compromised situation.

Broadband has definitely been one of the best things that could have ever happened in my lifetime. As a recent graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana broadband helped me complete my academic career both on and off campus. As we all know Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast and I was in school at the time, fortunately I evacuated before the storm but the only way to keep in contact with people after cell phones were out of service was through the internet. I could find my family and friends with the simple click of a button to send an email. It also allowed me to take advantage of the many online courses offered to us to keep us on track while our school and city were being rebuilt.

Here we are in 2008 and I am once again the victim of yet another hurricane, Gustav, at the beginning of my journey to complete my Master's in Public Health at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. We all are again scattered throughout the United States and we have been in touch through emails and blogs, online lectures and the Blackboard coursework tool. It has also been a way to receive the most up to date information regarding the storm and its effects on the city, without interfering with the activities of other while I am a guest in Dallas, TX.

Overall, I do not think I could live without broadband it keeps the world at my fingertips, gives me tremendous convenience to perform my coursework.

Christina May
Mr. President, Broadband not only changed my life, but enhanced it.

A few years back I decided to become an In-Home Personal Care Assistant for a disabled woman with Muscular Dystrophy. At twenty-six and forty ponds, her mobility was limited to just her wrist, forefinger and her mouth. She didn't let that stop her one bit. She moved out on her own, hired me, and became the first in our state with MD to become as independent as she is. And, being the highly intelligent and motivated individual she was, she used what little mobility she had to start her own personal business.

Using me as her partner, we'd work together using our computers to create logos, fliers, advertisements, business cards, and web pages for the common consumer. She, the graphic designer, and I, the coder, were able to create a number of wonderful products. Without broadband being our gateway to internet, we wouldn't have been able to quickly upload and download the necessary files and programs that allows for a business like ours to run productively. Having broadband allowed us to communicate with our customers rather quickly via web cam, VOIP and the various instant messengers that are available. This made our business successful and a disabled woman feel more like a productive member of society.

I would never trade this experience for anything. We both walked away from our time together with broadband more experienced and connected with the world around us. Mr. President, broadband has truly changed my life, and the life of my most amazing friend.

Martha Mowatt
High speed internet technology has revolutionized the world. It has made obtaining information and communicating with others easy and accessible from the comfort of one's home.

I work with people diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) also known as Lou Gherig disease. ALS robs people of all voluntary and involuntary movement, rendering the person totally paralyzed including their ability to speak, chew, swallow and breathe. The internet has made it possible for ALS patients to communicate with their friends and family through e-mail and instant messaging. It allows pictures to be sent in an instant and communicating through the use of web cams. ALS people become home bound when their condition deteriorates and going out becomes impossible. They are able to participate in "support groups" through chat rooms and post messages to each other. The internet prevents isolation.

The internet has allowed a 75 year old ALS patient who has lost her ability to speak to send e-mails to her family and friends. She is able to express her thoughts and share her intimacies. She has a web cam and "visits" with her family members in other states. She can see her grandchildren grow and feels a part of their lives. Prior to having access to the internet, she had minimal contact as she could not speak her thoughts in an intelligible way. This was frustrating for both herself as she was not understood and her loved ones who did not understand her.

For those ALS patients living in the Midwest where Neurologists specializing in ALS are scarce, the internet allows doctors to conduct medical evaluations using web cams and digital medical equipment that allows doctors to obtain vital signs remotely. Through the use of advanced technology,electronic records and distance medical monitoring, visits to specialized care is no longer out of reach. Doctors are able to "see" more patients and patients can obtain much needed specialty care.

Broadband technology has revolutionized how we communicate with others and has minized isolation for disabled individuals. It has also made remote specialty care accessible in rural areas where without this advancement, patients would go with out care. We must continue to find innovative ways to reach out to others unable to use conventional communication methods and facilitate medical care for those living too far from medical services.

Emily Ogilvie
My name is Emily. I am from a family of 4 children. One of my older brothers is autistic. Growing up with an autistic brother was very difficult on so many different levels. He was unable to express any emotion, other then anger, he would rarely speak, and he wasn't able to ever socialize with other people to gain friendships.

When I was about 14, my brother would have been 17, we got high speed internet. With this I noticed my brother slowing became more and more interested with the internet. Finally I realized he had actually found websites that were support groups for autistic people! It was amazing to see how much he was able to open up and get the support from other people with this disability. We are from a town of about 300 people and there weren't any other people with autism that he could be with to help support him and understand what his struggles were.

Before having this amazing tool to help him learn and grow he wasn?t able to stay in school or get a job. After about a year of him having access to these sites he actually got his GED and has had a steady job for almost 6 years now! This has taken a huge burden off my whole family. We are now able to watch him grow and actually live on his own (which the doctors told my parents he would never be able to do). I credit everything that he has been able to do and learn with the high speed internet. If it wasn?t for that he wouldn't have the support from all the other autistic people all throughout the country. It really is an amazing tool that I think every person can find a benefit from. This has shown me that you can virtually find anything you need and it really can change a persons entire life and their family.

Nancy Reid
My name is Nancy Reid and I live in Southampton County Virginia, which is a rural farming community. Being rural means you know your neighbor, and your children begin and finish school with their best friends. It is a slow and peaceful life. As wonderful as that is, being rural also means technologies like cable and broadband are not an option for us. We must rely on antiquated, slow phone lines for dial up internet service. To say our dial up is slow is an understatement. Logging in can take up to 30 minutes! In fact, it takes 3 hours to download and send pictures, and online banking is out of reach due to time limits set by our bank. Our computer became more of a frustration then a working tool.

Earlier this spring, I lost my job and like many other Americans, have had a hard time finding a new one. Deciding that I would have to go to college in order to update my skills was a hard decision as the nearest community college is 50 miles away. Losing a paycheck has been a financial strain, so to add to it by driving 100 miles a day, well, I had to find a way to lessen the financial blow. My option was to take as many online courses as I could. The problem, our internet couldn't keep up with all of the information I needed to be a successful student.

I was so close to acheiving my academic goals but had a huge and very frustrating problem, now I would have to drive if I wanted to continue. That is when a close friend told us about his satellite broadband access. I was skeptical but after some creative financing had it installed. To say it has made an impact on my life is so true in many ways. I am now able to download and send pictures to my mom in California in seconds, online banking is a breeze, and school, well, my first 2 reports were given A's! How is that for a morale boost!!

If I was given the chance, I would like to tell our next President," If America is to compete in today's Global Market, everyone, regardless of where they live should have access to broadband and the tools needed to succeed in this new technolgy world."

Joanna Romanyshyn
There are many reasons why students on a college campus don't call the rescue squad EMTs when they should: "it's too expensive", "I don't want to get in trouble", "I'm not sure if my injury is serious enough", and the list goes on and on. All around the country, these misunderstandings prevent students from getting treatment when they need it, and causes unnecessary permanent damage and in the worst cases, death. When I was elected Public Information Officer of my university's rescue squad, my first line of action was to address these concerns. But how do we get the information out there in a way that students will actually read it (and for cheap, we're a volunteer squad after all). 

The answer was simple- why not utilize an extremely popular program already instituted by the university? Broadband internet. Between blogging, Facebook, and checking their e-mail, students spend a considerable amount of time online. Broadband internet has revolutionized the way we obtain information. With websites appearing on our screens at such high speeds, it's no longer a pain to go online and explore all the information available.

Our rescue agency had a website already, but it was old and very out of date. I worked with a web designer to give the website a facelift by using modern color schemes, posting current information, and adding new applications. Not only would students find information telling them our rescue services were free, but also about common health problems afflicting students today and how they can gain valuable experience by joining the agency. The final step, we handed out a flyer to all campus residents about our agency, directing them to the website to have all their questions answered.

The results were better than I could ever have anticipated. Almost immediately, we began to receive more requests for our standby presence at sporting events and fundraisers as well as invitations to come present about our organization at programs in residence halls and fraternity houses. Over the next few months, we noticed an increased call volume by 33% compared to the previous year. We also began receiving twice as many applications, over half of which were online.

The website's success was, without doubt, a direct result of broadband internet. If the university provided slow, or even no, internet services we never could have accomplished this project. So as you can see, broadband internet not only changed my life and that of the community, but also has the potential to save lives.

Kyle V. Young
I was born perhaps five decades after our fabled "hay-day" when Gary, now considered of the nation's most failed cities, was an educational powerhouse.

Business flourished unconditionally and the steel industry employed a solid majority of the residents of not only Gary but Lake County and Illinois' Cook and Will counties. However, during the mid 1960s, there was a devastating "white-flight" that took place. The towns surrounding Gary weathered somewhat admirably but the fortunes of Gary and another city, Hammond, were greatly altered for the worst. The broadband boom of the new millennium greatly gave us our dreams and ambitions back.

It aided in stabilizing equality between the rich and poor and the various ethnicities that dwell here.

It has altered how we've behaved in politics; much of the populace here of northernmost Indiana is profoundly democratic; preferring higher taxation as a means to regulate and control business wherein lies the means for better funding of public services that have led to greater output from all levels of society.

Students on all levels have been greatly aided by the coming of broadband. Homework that use to take hours on end can be done within minutes while schools have built computer labs some as big as 15000 sq. ft. to aide students who might not have computers at home. They also can more readily rely on each other and teachers for support.

Employees have been able to achieve greater quality jobs, the earnings of which then help to supplement their families and communities rather then each single family struggling alone. Region hospitals routinely save 50,000 lives per year thanks the broadband boom better technology. Several here have enjoyed a near total immunization from illnesses that ounce devastated populations.

It is because of all this, that I could never permanently leave "the Region".

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All entries are posted as submitted to APT through the Broadband Changed My Life! contest.  APT makes no claim and is not responsible for authenticity, accuracy, or originality of submitted content.