As a kid, I remember my grandmother telling me the story of her first phone call. She was around sixteen years old, and for her, it was a monumental occasion. She told me all the details: how she dressed up for the event, how nervous she was picking up the handset, waiting for the call to connect etc.
It’s been nearly thirty years since she told me the story and, truth be told, I never paid much attention: I simply could never process how someone could fret so much about something so mundane. From my end, there is no “great” story of the first encounter with VCR, cellphone or the internet (I was born in 1991 for the reference).
Turns out, I just had to wait until my mid-thirties to get to a story worth telling here at the American Resource Center. We are equipped with a plethora of gadgets and high-tech gear necessary for some of our programs, 3D printer being one of them. I’ve been aware of the technology for quite some time but never got into close contact with it. For the purpose of the 3D Printing Innovation Lab workshop, we had to print out a model of a human hand. It took the printer some three hours to do so and I was present, nose up against the see-through casing, for nearly half of it.
As I was sitting there, mesmerized by the whole process, I couldn’t help but make references to Star Trek, The Fifth Element, and other Sci-Fi masterpieces that marked my childhood. I also felt a strong connection to my late grandma, almost hearing her saying: “Told you so!” with a satisfied look on her face. Guess I’ll be bothering my own grandkids in a couple of decades with a dreary tale about technology they’ll probably be using without second thought.
I am not much of a tech guy, becoming more and more old fashioned as years go by. However, ARC has a certain effect on people – it does not only provide resources, but ideas. It is not here only to give out information, or content, but inspire as well. If a dusty librarian like me can revert back to a gleeful kid, who knows what positive impact it may have on talented young people?!
Swing by the ARC and explore for yourselves.
Marko Vasiljevic, ARC Coordinator
