The human spirit must prevail over technology.
— Albert Einstein
Every day, all we do is check our phones, communicate by chat, and make friends by social media. Technology has suddenly taken over a huge part of our daily lives. People are suddenly defined by the kind of phones that they have. Performance in school suddenly relies heavily on the internet. It has come to a point where not being up-to-date on and familiar with recent technologies affect you as a person greatly.
I, too, admit that I could not live as efficiently and comfortably as I normally could without the technologies I have been relying on.
So, how exactly is technology important for me, and how has it affected my life? All I have to do is recall all the things I usually do in a single day.
hour zero
The beginning of the beginning
My day starts when it still has not started. Basically: me, on my bed, still asleep. The cold morning air is gentle and my blankets are soft. What disturbs this little moment of heaven is the sound of the alarm clock from my phone. I would groan and crawl around to find it and hopefully destroy turn it off.
After waking up, I would then start to get ready for my day. I would do the usual morning procedures like taking a bath and all those other things. Just before I leave, there are rare cases when I would actually have breakfast to eat. In those cases, I would heat it up using the microwave, and head off to school.
commuting time
traffic? terrific.
Saying that commuting to school is hard is an understatement, especially if you have to pass through the busy traffic in the Diversion Road. It’s not only the slow traffic that bugs you, though. You need to first hail and get on the right jeepney. Just waiting for it to pass by is tiring, and often, I would play with my phone just to keep me occupied (of course, while being attentive of the passing jeeps and the likely phone snatchers).
When I do get on the jeep, I would then have to sit around for a long time. Sometimes, when I feel like it, I would put on my headphones, connect it to my smart phone, and just crank up some lively tunes. On some other moments, I would decide to recheck my Facebook account and my Messenger if I missed something in class, just to be sure. Most of the time though, I would just be chatting with my friends, reacting on some cat videos, or just browsing through the net.
classes, classes.
Don’t be late!
When I get to school, the first thing I do is check the time. For that, I would use my phone. And because I’m highly forgetful, I would always recheck my schedule (because even in the third week, I still don’t quite memorize it yet). That, too, is found in the screenshots folder on the photos of my phone.
While some professors allow the usage of phones, some don’t. In the first case, I would usually keep my phone where I could just easily take hold of it so I could search for things while the lecture is going on. Sometimes, the lesson itself requires the usage of phones during different activities. There are moments too when laptops are needed for presentations and other class activities, so those are used as well.
Aside from that, communication about the occurrences in school is really important, and most of the time it is done through Messenger group chats and Facebook group posts. Being connected to the internet during class and during vacant time can really help you out, especially when you want to be informed about a certain rally to be conducted, sudden organization activities, and even on whether a class will be suspended or not. Hence, being informed really does come from being online sometimes.
the last hour
before i sleep
After school, I would travel back home and reminisce about the day. Sometimes, I would immediately check on my school work and do my assignments. Most of the time, I would procrastinate and watch Youtube videos or read some e-books and comics online. After leisure time, I would properly do group works by being on social media, and studying by reading PDFs and searching stuff online.
After all that, though, I would then recall my family and text them or even call them just so I could feel comforted by them amidst all the pressures I am experiencing after getting into a new school and environment. After all, in times of need, it is not so bad to depend on the love and care of others.
Finally, just as the clock sets upon the final hour of the day, I would stretch my tired hands out to find my phone, set the alarm up again, and await an incoming new day.
After all of this, I conclude that even in the most little things, technology has affected my life, and I would not be me without it. Others say that technology could be dangerous, and it really could be. But all that sets the limit to it is the user of the technology itself: me. All the responsibility lies on myself, and because it is up to me, I would use technology in a way that would make me a better person, for myself and for others.
After all, it does not matter whether the world changes and evolves just as how the hours of time change. I, too, will live with it and change with it.
La bitacora de bulaclac 