iExamen 1

            This Sunday was not my first time trying the iExamen, I did it once before for my Political Science class in the spring semester and this time around was a little different.

            I woke up tired from a long and busy Saturday. Looking back, I realized that when I am tired, I am not as inclined to communicate with people. Normally I enjoy talking to people and being more involved with my environment. Working as Desk Assistant I see a lot of people, but my communication is limited to a simple “hi” or “you’re welcome” after swiping them in.

            The more interactive part of my day was Sunday dinner at my aunt’s house, a 5-minute walk from campus. On my walk over I passed through the park right across from Newman and at one point I passed by a couple walking their dog and I smiled and waved, but got a very neutral response back, hardly even a smile. It kind of threw me off because in Ohio (where I am from) when you are walking in the park everyone smiles and waves, whether you know the person or not. At first I found it weird, but I have come to enjoy and expect it. I’m not sure if that is something unique to Ohio, or this couple was simply an outlier in Baltimore.

            The dinner was actually a birthday dinner for my uncle, so there were a few more people than normal, which made me feel pressured to be more interactive and conversational, despite my mild exhaustion. My conversation was somewhat forced at times because I didn’t want to seem rude and unsociable

            As for the one hour with no technology, my phone ended up dying at my aunt’s house, so I actually went 3 hours with no technology, unless you count the music played on the stereo system. This isn’t unusual for me though, all my Sunday dinners, whether they are at my aunts or back home have virtually no technology, everything is focused on conversation with the people present. It’s quite different from college life, where there always seems to be a TV on or someone showing a funny video on Facebook. Being without technology for extended periods of time allows you to dive in deeper to conversations, and think more for yourself. There were a few instances where someone couldn’t remember something like the name of a song from an old popular artist, and one of my first reactions was to look it up, but with a few minutes of active pondering, someone would remember the name. It made me think of how our generation is used to knowledge and gratification at an instance and maybe we don’t have as much patience as our parents.

            Although I wish I chose a different day, one where I wasn’t so tired and had more opportunities to interact with people, I think it went well. It helped me realize that sometimes it’s okay to have a more “introverted” day, and time without technology and among conversational people is a really good thing, I hope my whole life I am able to surround myself with people who appreciate that as well.