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| Easton Depp Class of 2019 |
Head down, eyes glossed over.
Absorbed into virtual reality
Ignorant of actuality
Seasons pass, the world changes.
Yet, on we walk, unaware.
I’m likely more guilty of this than
most people. I constantly catch myself on my phone when I shouldn’t be. It has
become a bit of a joke among my friends. My girlfriend asks for my phone when
we go on dates so she has my undivided attention. I think I owe her that.
As a society, we have become entirely
too invested in our electronic devices. Yes, I understand that people are
texting us, and that our clan has just finished raiding a village, and the
funniest picture just got posted on Twitter, but the outside world can and
should be appreciated as well.
For example, you could spend your time
watching the antics of the hundreds of squirrels on campus. They get up to
quite a bit of mischievousness, and it is always a challenge to find the white
squirrel. Alternately, people-watching never fails to entertain. Personally, I
enjoy looking at the variety of buildings and architecture on campus.
Regardless, there is always something going around you, and more often than
not, it warrants your attention.
So I challenge all of you to join me on
a mission to reduce electronic device usage in your idle time. When you sit
down for dinner, stack your phones in the center of the table. During strolls
from class to class, instead of slipping your phone out of your pocket, look
around. It is spring outside, and it is beautiful. Take a short hiatus from
social media if you’d like. I promise, you will still have fire tweets when you
come back.
Take the time to appreciate your
surroundings and live in this world. We only get one life in this reality.
Don’t spend it in a virtual one.
Easton Depp is a freshman McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville studying political science.