This might be one of the toughest and most emotional things I have blogged about, in, well…ever. I am writing this one out for the rebels, for the outcasts, for the ones who never thought they could make it, for the ones that were inspired to do something bigger and never settling. I am writing this one in honor of a man that I looked up to as my own flesh in blood. Steve. This one is for you.

Hello, My name is Zoë Cipolla and I am a Mac.

I have been using Mac computers since I was four years old. That, very first Mac, was with me until the age of twenty-one, until my recent house-fire took it away from me. Although, the memories of my first encounter with a Mac are somewhat blurred, I will never ever forget them. Those moments of playing a built in football game with X’s and O’s and a art/drawing program (forgive me, I do not remember the names). Those moments of frustration throughout school of how my “Mac version of an Microsoft Office document” would not open on the PC’s in school. The moments of victory of how my Mac has never had a problem within the five years of owning it, and I am writing this very blog on it at this moment. How my iPhone has changed my views of technology and mobile devices. How this company has inspired me to become an Engineer and hopefully work and build mobile software.

I am, forever yours.

Steve and his Wife at his last Keynote, ever.

If it wasn’t for this company, I would not be where I am today. I have no idea what type of person I would be. I have no idea where I would be. There are many reasons as to why I am the person I am now and Apple is one of them. To be apart of such a company….has changed me so much. It has helped me with shaping myself to become a better person and has forced me to set out a ten year goal and actually……go do something with my life.

If it wasn’t for Steve, who knows where Apple would have gone. If it wasn’t for Steve, I wouldn’t be the person I am now. I wouldn’t have such motivation to learn to become something greater and not to just “settle”. Be crazy. Risk everything. Never settle.

My father and Steve Jobs have so much resemblance- the way they talk, the way they think, the way they look (here is an image of them side by side)….My father has played a huge role in my life and has done so much for me, and once accepted into the Apple community, Steve I….just looked up to him like he was my father. And for him to have passed away, it’s a huge blow. Thousands of people have been affected by such a tragic event.

October 5th, 2011. I was on the way back to Atlanta from Miami, sitting in my seat on the plane, I looked over to see a father and son sitting next to each other as we waited to take off. The stewardess announced for everyone to power off all their electronics, and I watched the father struggle with his iPhone, having no clue how to turn the damn thing off. His six year old son, reaching over, and showing his father how to turn off the device and teaching his father something new about his Apple product. I see this almost everyday. But, I actually….watched. I realized how inspirational and influential Apple has been, how people of all ages are learning our products inside and out. How that, most of the world, found out about Steve’s death from an iPhone or an iPad. How….he changed, everything.

Steve lived with such huge dreams and visions that made the public thing he was, well, insane. But, he left this world a visionary. A legend. A hero. A mentor. A husband. A father. A rebel. He was so many things to so many different people. He has touched, so, so many lives. If I could be a quarter of what that man had grown to be, I would be ecstatic. And, if you hate Apple. Then, so be it. But, you are just lying through your teeth if you are saying “Steve hasn’t changed the way we look at technology”.

“Like Prometheus, Steve stole something from the Gods. And like Prometheus, he was punished for it.” – A text I received from a friend.

So.

Thank you Steve Jobs. Thank you for….everything. You will be missed, dearly. But, never forgotten. I will forever wear my Apple, loud and proud. It’s our time to be Steve. It’s our time, to be, well…Apple.

My name is Zoë Cipolla and I am a Mac.

A memorial left at an Apple Store