1 year, 365 days, 8760 hours is the amount of time since I deleted Snapchat and Instagram. When I tell people that, they all seem shocked by this; that I actually had the guts and bravery to delete these applications. Even to this day, I’m confused by this reaction because social media isn’t real life. It is a world inside of everyone’s phones and computers.

During my senior year of high school, I was studying for the SAT and decided to delete the apps so that I could completely focus on it the week before the exam (yes, I did study prior to a week before the exam). Once I took the exam and was about to reinstall the apps, I realized how peaceful everything was without social media. I realized how much I focused on these superficial aspects of my life that don’t even matter. How people would do anything to get more likes and made the amount of likes they got equivalent to how beautiful they are. Making fake accounts, accepting random people, telling everyone they knew to follow them. In my opinion, beauty shouldn’t be judged by other people’s feelings. You should decide how beautiful you are and you are as beautiful as you let yourself be. Beauty doesn’t always have to refer to a person’s physical appearances, it can refer to one’s personality and wisdom.

I don’t judge people who use social media because that isn’t any of my business. If it makes them happy, then why not use it? I still use Facebook because of organizations and groups, but Snapchat and Instagram are useless to me. Those apps didn’t make me happy at all and so I decided to follow the path of removing all the negatives of my life instead of succumbing to peer pressure. It just wasn’t for me and that’s okay.

At first it was definitely difficult. It was about two or three days after I had deleted it and I was sitting in my Economics class watching a video. I really liked the weather outside and I thought to myself, “I should put this on Snapchat.” Then a moment later I remembered that I didn’t have that anymore and I actually smiled because I knew that I made the right decision. It’s strange to think that I put certain things on social media because I “should.” It should’ve been because I wanted to. I remember going places and wanting to take a picture to post on Instagram/Snapchat. Why? To show everyone that I had a life? To prove something to everyone? Looking back, it seems so absurd. I don’t have to prove anything to anymore except for myself. My self worth can and will only be determined by me.

Without it, I have been able to focus more on enjoying life as it comes instead of through a camera lens. To experience each moment as it comes instead of remembering how long it took me to take the “perfect” picture. On vacation trips, I’m able to just relax and enjoy my time. Last year, I went on a one week long cruise and I didn’t have any service on my phone. It was literally the best thing ever. I was completely isolated from my life in Sugar Land and I loved every moment of spending time with my family and exploring the Caribbean.

I don’t spend an hour trying to take pictures anymore. There’s nothing wrong with pictures, obviously I still take them for memories; so that when I look back, I can remember the good times. But I don’t spend hours taking and editing photos. I use more of my time to focus on my studies, spend time with my friends and family and enjoy heartfelt conversations rather than an Instagram post from twenty minutes ago.

Just because I’m not doing what everyone else is doing doesn’t mean I’m wrong. It doesn’t mean that everyone else is wrong either. I’m determined to figure out the person that I am supposed to be and stepping out of society’s norm was my first step. Everyone has a journey set for them and social media just so happened to not be a part of mine.