Rhetoric & Composition I Rotating Header Image

Cristina: no-phone journal

Day 1

Today I had to say goodbye to my phone for four days. I felt a sense of loss right when I turned it in. When I walked out of class I reached for my pocket around twenty times looking for my phone. I did not have a way to view the time of day; I had to ask several people before I finally put my watch on. Then, as I was walking back to my dorm I thought of something and immediately went to reach in to text my friend after remembering that I no longer had a phone. I felt like a part of me was missing because this device goes everywhere I go and I never lose sight of it. It was also a big burden when trying to communicate with not only my parents, but friends. I asked my roommate several times to borrow her phone and I am pretty sure she got very annoyed. It was hard watching all my friends Snapchat and text while I was sitting there all alone. I almost felt left out with them and with the world. Lastly, by the end of the night, I realized that I needed an alarm clock. I usually use my phone and trust that it will wake me up in the morning.  I have a regular alarm clock in my dorm thankfully, but it doesn’t seem to work as well as my IPhone. It took me over fifteen test trials to successfully beep. I still don’t trust that it will wake me up in the morning, but we will see what happens. Today has been a very different, but eye-opening day. 

Day 2

The second day wasn’t as bad as the first except for the fact that I didn’t wake up to the alarm I set the night before. I got up ten minutes before class started and luckily got there with one minute to spare. I miss not having Snapchat, but I finally got used to not having my phone by my side.  I did check my pocket a few times for it, but not as frequently as yesterday. Interestingly, today, I realized how addicted people are to their phones. I was studying with my friends and almost every 30 seconds one of them would grab their phone to check it. I even brought it up to one of my friends and she didn’t even realize what she was doing. Surprisingly, my friend and I were doing the same assignment and I finished over an hour before her. I realized that having a phone was a real distraction in my work.

Day 3

Day three wasnt nearly as bad as the first two days, I hardly missed my phone. I think a major reason was because I had a midterm the next day and was studying. I did feel deprived of SnapChat but I got through it. I used my roommates phone a lot this day which was another major factor. Although, I noticed it was hard not being able to have a convenient way of taking pictures. Im so used to just taking out my phone and getting a good candid, but for these days I wasnt able to.