Having gone without social media for 5 days, I thought I would find clarity. Enlightenment. Understanding of the world past a bright screen. It all started as an experiment turned tragedy: my purse got stolen which included my phone, so I was forced to go on a phone and social media detox. I decided to make the most of it and turn it into a research project: what would happen if I didn’t go on social media for five days? First off, there are some things that I did not expect, like having to go to the store at the last minute the night before my final exams because I needed to buy an alarm clock. That and having to navigate by using a paper map. But what really shocked me was how fast the world seemed to keep moving all the while I was out of touch with the social/online world. Needless to say, when I finally got access to a phone again today, I was blasted with insane amounts of shocking information.

1. Donald Trump became president of the United States

Okay, so this one is cheating, I obviously knew this was happening. But I didn’t know... were there protests? Was I supposed to be boycotting something? Was I supposed to be making a ruckus? No clue.

2. “We’re building that wall” or something.

Wait, so the whole wall thing isn’t a joke? And President Trump genuinely expects Mexico to pay for it? … Cool.

3. Betsy DeVos

Another one of President Trump’s appointees who apparently knows absolutely nothing about the field that she has been designated to. But I mean, who needs public schools, anyways? Let’s privatize everything.

4. Abortion is apparently not going to be a thing anymore

I didn’t choose to have my phone stolen. I also did not choose to have my right to choose taken away. (Maybe I should just get rid of social media for the next four years and go hide in a cave away from society.)

5. Kellyanne Conway invented the phrase “alternate facts”

In exchange for the word “lies.” Appropriate. As much as I hate this, I’m not surprised by it at all.

6. Drought? What drought?

I arrived in California and after a 13-hour flight stepped outside to enjoy the bright blue sky, the heat, the perfect Southern California weather, the… the rain. RAIN? Yes, water was falling from the sky and no one on social media could alert me to this fact. Appalling. Maybe Trump was right about the drought being a hoax after, after all. Or maybe it was just California crying.

I eventually got my phone and my social media accounts back, but I came to a realization, and that is that life goes on. The world keeps spinning, even if we don’t check our phones.