From the short excerpt of "Hamlet’s Blackberry" by William Powers, the perspective of technology interfering with daily life is very evident. His view of the world where social media, email, and even texting is interfering with daily life is a revelation. Powers states that “Much of what used to be called free time has been colonized by our myriad connective obligations, and so is no longer free.” I strongly agree with this bold statement because technology use is something I have been dealing with in my life within the past couple of months. Being a college student is time-consuming as it is, but adding collegiate level volleyball to the mix is almost insane. In season, I spend an average of twenty hours a week on the court, in the gym, and traveling; that is equivalent to a part time job. Now imagine adding a full fifteen credit workload, eight hours of mandatory study hall, and a long distance relationship of 3000 miles into the mix. It is an easy conclusion to say that free time is hard to come by. During the few scarce hours that I actually have free, I would constantly be checking on my social media accounts, texting, calling, even skyping. Each click of an app ruining my relationships with the people around me, instead of bringing me allegedly closer, and the feeling of an unfulfilling day constantly loomed.

To be connected to people through conversations and activities is something that cannot be replicated or artificially created through a glass screen. I experience this daily when I am reading “I love you” on a screen instead of hearing it in my boyfriend’s comforting voice. As humans, we think the blocky typed out text is something that can replicate actual human interaction, but in reality, it loses meaning. Spending all my time trying to balance school, athletics, and all sorts of technology accounts while being homesick caused me to have a false sense of joy when it came to my lifestyle.

It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to be a part of a First Year Seminar class called, “Live, Laugh, Love,” that I had the epiphany that Powers explains at the end of the excerpt. He states that the realization of over-connectivity allows the inner self to revive. There is importance in having free time that has meaning. I started to spend less time on my iPhone, even deleting my twitter account, and spend more time consciously making an effort to enjoy my life. I suppose you never really know the value of all the small things you miss out on when you are constantly hiding behind a screen. I began to do activities like coloring, sitting in the sun, and even just taking a single hour to watch Netflix without the distraction of notifications.

It has been about two weeks since I have been aware of the improvement in my mood. The realization of the power we have as humans to actually live our lives outside of a device that fits in our pocket is something everyone should be able to experience, but like Powers said we rely heavily on the opinions and voices of others through the internet and it takes a lot of confidence to be able to go against the grain of societal trends. It is important to change the societal norms to better the technological world. In the end, I think it is worth missing out on the latest tweets or emails to be able to have true happiness and a better lifestyle.