Eugene is a 67 year old man who just recently retired from his job at Spirit Aerosystems. He lives with his wife, Darla, but has three children who are all in their early 40’s and have left the house. Eugene is not particularly savvy with electronics having grown up in the 60’s and 70’s.
After retiring from the plane manufacturing career he had, he decided to pick up amateur storm chasing in his trusty pickup truck. He’s always had a fascination with the weather, and one of his bucket list items is to see a tornado. Given that he lives in Wichita, KS, part of tornado alley, he figured that since he had all sorts of free time, he would learn how to chase storms and see one for himself. He believes that even though he is reaching an advanced age, he still wants to do things that have interested him since he was a child.
Eugene knows that to storm chase means that he will have to learn how to use new technology, and so he goes to google to find information on it. He also wants to learn more about tornadoes and how they form, and one of his kids mentions that Wikipedia may be of some help for him, because he learns best by reading.
Eugene plans to chase an upcoming potential outbreak, and he wants to learn as much about the way the radar works as possible, so that when he is in the field, he has minimal frustrations when it comes to knowing what to look for, and how to use the technology to chase tornados, so that he can see one.
Lizzie Smith is a young 8th grade student at Ridgeway Junior High in Seattle, Washington. She was assigned an assignment by her Computer Apps teacher, but her friend challenged her to play the Wikipedia game, to see who could go from one designated site on Wikipedia to another, in the shortest time possible.
Lizzie is quite technologically savvy, having an iphone that she always keeps on her, as well as a Nintendo Switch at home she plays Animal Crossing and The Sims on. She also folds easily to peer pressure from her friends, as she enjoys having fun with them. Lizzie agrees to join in on the game, as a mutual friend then begins thinking of webpages to start and end with.
Lizzie is a fast reader, so she is able to skim through the website at speeds that not everyone may be able to. She also possesses the ability to think a few steps ahead, therefore she can think of how one thing links to another and she is able to easily play this game.