iExamen 1

Megan Holden

Dr. Ellis

Understanding Lit

Oct. 2, 2017

iExamen 1

I got up on Friday morning at 8:30am for my first and only class, and silently acknowledged one of my roommates, Emma, as we got ready for our 9am Environmental Bio. Usually when I wake up I’m unconscious until I shower, and Emma seems to recognize that and lets me talk when I’m ready to. Once we were all set to walk together and alert enough to hold a conversation, we chatted and laughed about the weekend plans that were to come. As I walked into class I waved to a few friends, but didn’t feel like talking to people just yet. Throughout class I listened to the lecture and I would occasionally look up from my notebook just to reaffirm to my professor that I was listening, nodding a few times to convey my attention. The walk back to our apartment after class was filled with familiar faces, and this was good and bad. When we saw our friends we waved or said a passing hello, but if we saw someone we didn’t want to see we would look right past them. It was jarring to notice how friendly we were to the people that we liked, and how apathetic we were to those who didn’t make the cut for us. Once I was back in my room I took a quick nap, woke up around lunchtime and found my other two roommates, Maggie and Addy, eating in the kitchen. I grabbed some pita chips and hummus and chatted idly with them about classes and homework, and we got more excited as we discussed the upcoming weekend. Halfway through the conversation I got an email from my Theology professor responding to a question I had sent him, and tuned out Addy and Maggie for a second to read the email. “Did you see his Instagram post?” Maggie’s voice interrupted my thoughts. I didn’t even know who she was talking about, but I answered no I hadn’t seen it. “Well you have to see it, it’s insane. Do you know him-“ I glanced down at her screen as she continued explaining the insanity of the post; analyzing the boys clothes, explaining who the other boys in the photo were, even critiquing the composition of the photo itself. I didn’t really care, but I nodded along and offered small comments as she worked her way through it. Once she was finished I could only say, “Wow, that’s totally bananas.” Maggie nodded and agreed, and she returned to scrolling. I stopped and asked myself, why did I just pretend to care? I didn’t know who the boy was and his life had no relevancy to mine and I genuinely didn’t care…  but I listened to Maggie anyways and learned who this boy was. I think this stems from people not wanting to miss out and the social pressure of having a presence, on social media and in real life. So much of social media is about seeing and being seen, so when you don’t know someone or are unfamiliar with a reference its incredibly alienating. The first thing I do when someone I don’t know gets mentioned in a story or anything is: 1. Search them on Facebook 2. Search them in Instagram. Being in the know and knowing who’s who is a huge part of communication, and the technology of social media has really influenced how we familiarize ourselves with one another. Later that day when all four of us headed to dinner at the dining hall, I left my phone at home. Halfway through eating, my roommates picked up on the fact that there were only 3 phones on the table. Emma noticed first that I didn’t have my phone on me, and when she asked why I didn’t have it I said, “I just didn’t feel like I needed it.” Maggie shook her head and said, “Wow you’re so cool.” I didn’t like how condescending she sounded so I casually flipped her off. I looked back over at Emma, and instead of questioning me she actually perked up and told me how she had a humble flip phone all throughout middle and high school until midway through junior year when here mom forced her to her an IPhone. She cursed Steve Jobs name and explained how she knew once she had the IPhone she’d never be able to go back to the flip phone ever again, because the smart phone offered too much. I asked if she would ever go back to the flip phone, like a cleanse, and she entertained the idea but ultimately knew she would hate it after a day. After returning to the apartment from my brief “cleanse” I scrolled through my notifications and caught up on all the things I had missed within that hour. As predicted, nothing monumental had happened. I hadn’t missed anything that I couldn’t look at any other time, and during dinner I had no choice but to pay attention. It was both refreshing and unsettling not having something there to distract me or hide behind when I didn’t feel like talking. It forced me to focus on what was going on right in front of me, and gave me a better sense of self-awareness.