I would say that my phone and I are attached at the hip, but it feels more appropriate to say my phone is just an extension of my hand. I am one with my phone, and I can’t go to sleep without my phone being right there next to me. I am obsessed with my phone.

All of my friends were given cell phones in fourth grade. My parents promised me I would have one by the time I entered sixth grade. I got my cell phone the day before I packed up and went to sleep-away camp for the summer. My cell phone wasn’t allowed at camp, but I had a cell phone, that number memorized, and I felt on top of the world.

It hasn’t made a difference what phone I had, I was always attached to it. In middle school when we had to leave our backpacks and cell phones in our lockers, I would hide my cell phone in my UGG boots and then sneak it out when I thought the coast was clear.

In high school, my phone sat in my lap during class.

Let’s face it. When teachers and professors see that their students are staring at a glowing light coming from their lap, they know that it’s your cell phone down there.

The thing is, I know I’m not the only one who is completely enamored by their cellular device. When I’m at home, there are some nights where my mom, dad, brother, and myself are sitting eating dinner, TV on, and cell phones in hand. My roommates and I can’t even hang out together without our cell phones right by our sides.

For the longest time, I wanted to do a phone detox. In the past, I had toyed with not using my phone for a week. As refreshing as that would be, I knew it wasn’t realistic. I can’t go an hour without checking all of my social media.

Finally, I made the decision. My phone and I would be like Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, we would be “consciously uncoupling”.

I realized I if I didn’t tell my mom that I was going off the grid for a day, she’d freak out, so I used my phone one last time to fill her in.

Wednesday night, I plugged in my phone and went to bed, ready to not use my phone for a full day.

For the first time since this semester, I used my alarm clock. It’s been sitting on my nightstand now since August and I haven’t used it once.

My alarm went off at 8:30 and I was caught off guard. I don’t remember the last time I heard the annoying beep of the clock.

It wasn’t hard getting ready to go to class without my phone. I made sure that I put my watch on so I would be able to check what time it was on my walk to class.

The first few minutes of class went by fine until I got bored. I reached into one of the pockets of my backpack and my phone wasn’t there.

My phone is my security blanket. I don’t go anywhere without it. When I reached into my bag and there wasn’t a phone there, I was nervous.

My anxiety level went from zero to 100 rather quickly. I knew I didn’t bring my phone with me, but I was so accustomed to reaching into that pocket, grabbing my phone, entering my passcode, and being connected to the rest of the world.

Walking to and from class, I felt more aware of my surroundings. I’m normally one of the thousands of students at UD who walks with their phone in their hands, head down, narrowly avoiding being hit by a bicycle.

I felt like a freshman all over again trying to figure out what building their class was in. I was actually paying attention on The Green. Without my phone to play on, I was more aware of the world going on right in front of me; I was more aware of the conversations going on beside me.

The only time during the day that I felt empty without my phone was when I got to class early. I felt like I needed to occupy myself. Sure, I had my computer on me, but I felt the need to go on my phone.

I could easily go on Facebook and Twitter on my computer, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to be on my phone, and I was feeling stressed out.

I spent the rest of my night working on assignments whose due dates were coming up soon. I caught up on readings from my textbooks that I was weeks behind on. I felt successful. I wasn’t procrastinating. I felt like I was actually getting my life together.

Before I realized, it was midnight. The last time I used my phone was 24 hours before.

To some extent, I felt like I completed my goal. I surprised myself by not using my phone. I had moments I wanted to quit. I wanted to give in and check Snapchat.

At the same time, I felt like I cheated. I still was using my computer. I know I wasn’t doing a full technology purge, but when I used my computer and checked Facebook once or twice, I felt like I failed a mission.

It’s kind of funny; I went into this thinking I would be missing so much by not using my phone. I thought I would come back to 50-something text messages waiting for me to but maybe if I was lucky, I had 10. Clearly, I was mistaken.

I’ll be the first person to admit that I still have an unhealthy obsession with my iPhone. However, with success, I was able to “consciously uncouple” with my cell phone for a day. It’s a small feat, but one that I am proud of. Maybe on day when my life is actually together and I’m not living on the schedule of a college student, I’ll finally take my weeklong break from my phone.