Digital Day
By: Haley Drilling
I wake up to the tune of my alarm clock set on my phone. In the darkness, I struggle to find my phone to shut off the horrid sound. Ready to get the school day over with, I get ready. While toasting my bread for breakfast, I scroll through my Twitter and Instagram newsfeed. I start to smell something burning, so I look down to see that in fact, my toast is black. I give up, and start collecting my school supplies that are scattered all over the house.
I rush to school, so that I can meet up with my friends before class. While waiting in the car for them to arrive, I begin my morning ritual. I make sure that my volume is as low as it can go, before I put it on silent. Then I check my email. Sorting through them, I find a few from colleges and some from stores. Seeing my friends, I meet up with them to walk into school together.
While waiting for the first bell to ring, I scroll through Instagram again. I check to see if anyone posted pictures of what they were wearing for school, since it is 80's day. I laugh at a few posts, then snap a few pictures with my friends. Hearing the bell, I start walking to class.
I arrive to economics a few minutes later. After the class has been instructed on what to do for the day, I start my work. Most of the work is done on my computer, but I also use the calculator app on my phone. The class goes by pretty fast. The last few minutes of the period, I pack up and check my messages.
I head to government for the next period. While the announcements are playing, I get out my laptop to log onto the school email. I have an email from a teacher and one informing me about the Oriole Olympics in my inbox. I respond, and catch the end of the announcements. I end up checking Power Parent too, which leads me to checking my phone again for messages. This occurs again a couple more times throughout the day.
After the last few hours of school, I rush to my car so I can avoid the parking lot traffic. After having my snack while listening to Pandora, I decide to make a recipe off of Pinterest. After scrolling through the food section, I find one that I'm craving and that is easy to make. All it takes is a bag of pretzels, Rolos, and pecans. I grab the Ipad, and open up the recipe so that I can see the instructions better. After successfully making the recipe, without burning anything, I gobble up some of the warm, delicious snacks.
After stuffing my face, I decide that it is time to do homework. I lay out all of my books, and begin working. I use the classroom webpages on the high school website to complete some of my assignments. Feeling exhausted, I stop my homework to get ready for my actual job.
After getting dressed, I have a few minutes to look at Instagram and Twitter again. Glancing at the clock, I notice that I have been distracted for too long, and am running late. Entering DSW, I put on my name tag and radio. I clock in right on time. I check people out using the tablet and regular computer. Ten o'clock rolls around and it is time for me to clock out.
When I get home I eat and take a shower. Not wanting to go to sleep yet, I get on vine. I laugh at almost every post, and waste about thirty minutes. Feeling groggy, I decide to go to sleep, so I set my alarm on my phone for another day of school.
Technology is involved in almost every single thing I do. I depend on it to wake up, for school work, and for my work at DSW. It helps me stay connected with family who lives far away, but it can distract me from the people who are with me. Technology can be addicting. From the article "Is the Web Driving Us Mad," one of the points made was that the brains of Internet addicts scan a lot like the brains of drug and alcohol addicts. When I am using technology I am giving up face to face contact with friends and family. Technology will only continue to interweave deeper into my life. It's important to find a balance between digital life and real life.