Shanahan 1

Michael Shanahan

Mrs. Scharf

ERWC

9 April 2019

Integrity

The different parts of a computer work together synchronously constantly to work

properly, and the system as a whole wouldn’t work properly if it’s missing one of it’s key parts.

This is analogous to my life in general, all aspects of my life come together to shape and build

the person I am today, and I wouldn’t be me without all these different parts of my life. I am

constantly looking to evolve and change who I am as a person to be the best I can, and I think

that it is very important to be able to recognize your personal downfalls and strive to improve on

them.

The heart of the computer, the CPU and motherboard, are representative of myself. In a

computer, the CPU acts as the main brain of the entire system, and the motherboard takes care of

sending signals and information back and forth connecting and coordinating all the different

components of the computer. I am similar to a CPU in that I control my life and my own destiny.

I call the shots and lead the life that I want to lead, similar to how the central processing unit

does in a computer. Similar to a motherboard, I make all the connections with the other aspects

of my life that combine to come together and make me who I am. Also similarly, there are new

CPUs released every year or two that have better performance than their predecessor, which is

representative of how I evolve and improve myself as time goes on. One of the most important

self-traits to have is the ability to evolve and change yourself to improve as a person to better

yourself. I am like a motherboard in the sense that I connect myself to all of the other parts of the
 Shanahan 2

computer and maintain the communications and connections between everything.

My family is similar to the power supply of the computer as they are the driving force

and power behind my life and aspirations, similar to how a PSU powers a computer so that it can

work properly. They are the main powering force that keeps me home, and that I can rely on if

I’m struggling or having a rough day. That support system is so key for me, and I am truly

blessed to have a such a caring and loving family that will do anything they can to help me

succeed in life. My parents have sacrificed a lot in order to get us to where we are to day, and it’s

a blessing to be this privileged and I am so thankful to my parents for providing that for me. My

brother is also a huge help, and I feel like I can always talk to him if I need to get something off

my chest or get advice about something. The power supply is such an integral part of the

computer, and it wouldn’t work without the power supply, just like I couldn’t live without the

love and support from my family.

My friends are kind of like the hard drive in a computer, holding all the information in,

similar to how I build memories I will remember with my friends. A hard drive in a computer

takes the information given to it by the other parts in the computer, and saves them in different

locations on the disk. This is a lot like the memories I make over time with friends, and that are

so important to me. Also, memory and information can be deleted and removed off of a hard

drive, just like how friends come and go, and friendships sometimes don’t last. However, these

friendships are some of the most important people to me in my life, and I wouldn’t trade them for

the world. These friendships and memories you build are things you will remember for a

lifetime, and reminisce about long after the time has passed. The hard drive of a computer is one

of the most key parts, and the computer wouldn’t be able to do much, if anything without it,

which is also true for me, and shows how integral my friends are to me and my life.
 Shanahan 3

The graphics card in a computer is a part that isn’t necessary for the computer to run, but

is a part that gives access to a lot of fun as it lets you run video games. This is like baseball in my

life, as it is such a big part of my life, and a major source of fun and enjoyment for me. It takes

up a lot of my free time and is one of my biggest commitments in life aside from school. I can

always have fun playing and enjoy myself, just as I can with the processing power a graphics

card supplies to a computer to allow it to run games. I am playing baseball in college next year,

and I hope to take myself as far as I can go, and my dream is to play professionally, getting paid

to play a game. I devote a lot of time to develop my skills in order to make myself the best I can

be, a trait that I think is very applicable and useful in life in general, not just in baseball.

Likewise, the sheer amount of processing power that has been crammed into graphics cards is a

feat in and of itself, and is crazy the things that they allow a computer to do.

Fans in a computer are used to cool all of the parts and keep them working well. This is

similar to music for me, which helps me relax and chill out after I’ve had a stressful day, and

helps me get through my day. Music is such a fantastic expression of art and emotion, and can be

so powerful and meaningful to and for people that it’s remarkable. For me, it helps me stay on

task when I need to work, like on this essay for example, and can make monotonous tasks fly by

and reduce the tediousness of many things. The ability of music to change a person’s whole

demeanor and attitude is amazing and many studies have been done on its power. Similarly, a

computer could not run nearly as well without fans to keep the temperatures of components

down, and helps everything run smoothly and without incidence.