Stay Connected

When I think back to my freshman year at Centenary College of NJ, I can still recall the high level of interaction amongst the students. There was eye contact being made, conversations that would hold you up from making it to class on time, and let's not forget to mention hugs; lots of hugs.

I can still remember girls coming to class wearing their best outfits to grab a guy’s attention. However, now a girl would just post a provocative Instagram post, calculating every like she gets. I can still remember how guys would have to build up the courage to sit next to the girl they wanted to get to know. However, now he'd like a few of her pictures and if she liked a few back, he’d slide up in her DM (Direct Messages).

When I think back to my freshman year of college, I can still recall when students would walk around with their heads held high. I’m not talking about their level of self-confidence though. Take a look the next time you walk around and you will see people with their ears plugged up. Their chins fused to their chests, with their thumbs gyrating all over their phones. I can still remember walking a certain way to class just to see somebody and find out how they’re doing. Now people would just text them “How are you?” and like a few of their emotional posts, saying, “I’m here for you.” But are you really?

Bumping into people now is literally bumping into somebody that wasn't looking up to see where they were going. I used to look forward to bumping into somebody and asking them something. Now if somebody bumps into me they won’t even say hi, they would text me later that week and say they saw me. What happened to human interaction?

It disturbs me how making eye contact with somebody has become socially awkward and we would rather hide behind a phone than approach someone. Try going a day without depending on your phone. Believe it or not, there was a time when I had friends without having a cell phone. That whole “keeping your circle small” mentality is new to me. Back in the day when our phonebooks were actually notebooks, my circle was only as big as the amount of house numbers I could memorize.

I think back to before high school when cellphones were just starting to enter our lives and I wish somebody would have told me how bad of an idea they were going to be. I wish somebody would have told me that all cellphones would end up doing is desensitizing our humanity, causing us to be more dependent on our phones throughout time. Do yourself a favor and go a day without constantly staring at your phone, you might realize how amazing the world could be through your own eyes.

Peace readers

-Stylish Ev