My Experience with Digital Technology

Technology has certainly changed our lives for the better in different ways. We can communicate, discuss, learn, talk, and see each other as if we were living at one place. Technology significantly affects the way we live, especially the education system. Currently, regardless of the place you are in, it has made easier for everyone to learn whatever he wants at any point of time. After graduating from university, I tried to start my career. But I realized that a Bachelor’s degree was not enough as I needed to enhance my knowledge in other areas. The situation was not good at all, and what made it worse is the current war in my country, Yemen; however, digital technology offered me an excellent opportunity to move on in my learning journey. 

With digital technology, we can make our dreams come true and overcome all obstacles that hinder us from reaching our goals. That is what I figured out from my personal experience. After I graduated from the University as an English teacher, I couldn't get a job as I live in a country that suffers from the never-ending conflict, even the senior teachers don't get their salaries. I tried to find a way, but all my attempts were in vain. So, I came back to using digital technology to look for a job with humanitarian organizations. I found out that it was also difficult to find an opportunity in the field of education. I became very sad, I couldn’t live without working. There was only one livelihood available to me, that is to come back to my father's farm to work like an uneducated person.

  I still nurtured hopes to find a way, I planned to partner with an English Language institute to open a new branch at my village to teach English. I succeeded but the salary was too low, it didn't cover my living expenses. In this frustrating situation, I decided to find another way to enhance my qualifications that would help me to find a suitable vocation in the job market. Therefore, I devoted myself to learning new things by using digital technology such as Wikipedia, pdf resources and free online courses with or without digital certificates. 

At the same time, I planned to apply for different positions in different humanitarian organizations, especially the ones where my background fits and are suitable for me. I selected humanitarian organizations as we don’t have much choice of finding a proper job in Yemen. Although I applied for different positions, I didn't receive any message or calling that informed me that I have been shortlisted as a candidate to take written tests to compete for any work. On the other hand,  I continued with my online learning to garner as much knowledge and new skills as possible to make my CV strong.. 

After a long time and much effort, I received a call to take a written test as the first step to selection. I was very happy to get it. After two weeks, the organization informed me that I had passed the test and I have an interview in the coming week. So, I prepared myself for the interview by collecting information from different websites related to that topic. Thereafter, I went to take part in the first battle for my future. 

After a month, I received a message from the company that I had not been selected. Despite the disappointment, I didn’t give up. I went on trying till I got the job. Subsequently, I signed my contract on 18 April 2018 to work as a cashier at the  International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). On that day, I was so happy as I had succeeded in opening the first window of my future careers. Thank you, Allah, for that and for the gift of technology that made my life easier.. 

Although I had taken many online courses to upgrade my skills, I wanted to continue with my professional studies. By the way, it is very difficult to work every day and go to the university campus on time. Moreover, COVID-19 made our life so difficult to go for on-site learning. As a result, I felt it was getting impossible to achieve my career goals. But with digital technology, nothing is impossible. I searched for different online universities but most of them were so expensive or with no clear vision of using the tools and techniques of modern technology. Finally, I discovered a good university as a suitable choice which met my needs on 05 November 2020. 

I enrolled at Athena Global Education because it was affordable and flexible with the support of experts from recognized universities. They have a major learning forum where I go to learn whenever I have free time. I initiated my learning on 26 December 2020 with my personal tutor who directed me on the learning process and how to achieve the objectives as if we were in classroom through the application of ZOOM Meetings. It is because of these facilities, online degrees now have become the best solution for most of the students around the world. Technology has indeed revolutionized the field of education.

To sum up, technology is a gift from God that made my education easier and guided me to discover my abilities, and literally changed my life. Even though technology has negatively impacted the society in many ways but that actually depends on how you use it. So, I advise all students and young people, in general, to utilize digital technology to develop their learning and expand their knowledge. Only then can we know the value of this gift and how to use it well.