Okay, can you even begin to think about going through life without your cell phone? I’m serious. Try closing your eyes and picturing the idea of this—I mean really try to picture it. It seems pretty hard, right? Precisely.
As 21st century millennials, our cellphone is pretty much at the center of our universe. A world without this sidekick-of-an-item seems almost impossible when you think about it.
About a week ago, I was presented with possibly the saddest news for a phone-dependent collegiette: my phone PERMANENTLY lost service and had to be sent away for repairs. This meant that I would be without my phone at school for a week. Terrifying, I know. Here’s a recap of my experience and some things I learned during this rather ~unique~ experience.
1. Waking up for class is 50x harder without your phone/alarm.
Honestly, what even is an alarm clock? Seriously, I don’t think I’ve owned one in 10 years. Not having a cell phone to wake me up for those early morning 9:30 AMs sure made things a little hard! At least I have some good roomies who would wake me up!!
2. Just think about going to the gym without music.
Prior to not having my phone, my BIGGEST fear was forgetting to bring headphones to the gym. For the past week I wasn’t missing the headphones, but rather the physical source of music. All I can say is thank God for Netflix being available on the elliptical screens.
3. Being car-less and phone-less, aka Uber-less, makes getting around rather challenging.
As a car-less college student, Uber-ing is literally the center of my universe. On a weekly basis, I Uber everywhere including my off-campus internship, and cafes and shops downtown. Without a phone to call an Uber, I had to get a little creative with my modes of transportation and I can definitely say that I experienced some rather ~thrilling~ feelings of abandonment.
4. Trying to make plans is not the easiest thing in the world.
One image for you guys: walking around campus like an idiot with my laptop open emailing people to make plans. ~So cool.~
5. There is a strong sense of disconnection between you and your parents.
If you’re anything like me, you probably call your family multiple times a week (or day tbh). Without my cellphone to call my mom every 5 seconds, I felt like a child out in this big world alone—okay not exactly, but you know what I mean.
6. Going phoneless is a cleanse from this social media-obsessed world.
Although our cellphones are a beneficial asset in our fast-paced everyday lives, we should try to be less dependent on them. I mean, our parents were able to survive college without them, weren’t they? Not having the option to resort to using my phone in any given situation really highlighted the excessive amount that others use their phones. Not having my phone for a week made me realize that life shouldn’t be lived from behind a screen. There is a beautiful, exciting world around us, and you just might miss it if you live your life through the technological world of a cell phone.