As social media continues to take over, this generation of college students faces external pressures that we’re often unaware of. Yes, you technically could stay off of it completely and refuse to let Facebook, Insta, Twitter, Snap, Tumblr, VSCO, and so many more have a place in your daily activities. That’s extremely difficult to do. Your high school friends want to see what you’re up to, your family members want to leave paragraph long comments on your newest FB album, and sometimes you have something (you think is) really funny and under 140 characters to say. Whether we like to admit it or not, social media is a part of our lives, especially in college.

With the constant need to document and capture the moment, a lot of times we forget to live it. We get wrapped up in making sure Snap stories look ok that we forget to watch it live. In order to stay present, you have to be vigilant and really try to make time to look up and live in the moment. It can be hard I know. On a daily basis, I probably check my phone at least every half hour and that’s not when I’m actively in a conversation with someone. Am I really gonna miss something important, no, but I feel the need to stay updated and God forbid I take a minute and do nothing. Constantly scrolling, refreshing, posting, searching, Googling, it’s exhausting.

I don’t know exactly what the best strategy is to be more present but I’m trying to learn. As a college sophomore with so much left to learn, I have turned to my senior friends for help, for a lot of things. With three and a half years under their belts, their knowledge and wisdom has guided me and helped me to understand that it’s ok to take things one step at a time and figure it out as you go. In terms of living in the moment, three of them are planning to embark on the ultimate challenge and I know they’re gonna kill it.

In mid April, RedBull is sending 165 student teams to Europe for their “Can You Make It” adventure of a lifetime with nothing but a single smartphone and 24 cans of RedBull. The teams must use their extremely limited resources to reach their specific destination in one week, and document their adventure as they go. My friends, three incredible people, and all seniors at Fordham University, are looking to experience this trip before they head off into “the real world”. “Can You Make It” will give them a week to have fun, explore, challenge themselves, and be present with each other right before graduation.

But they cannot do it with out your help! Everyone understands the nerves associated with moving on to the next chapter of something, and these girls deserve this adventure before taking their next step. All you have to do to help them out is watch this super awesome video they made and vote (and tell your friends to tell their friends to tell their friends to do so also).

Sadly, we won’t all be able to go on this trip with them, but, we can all follow their journey and learn from it. Put down the phone, laptop, tablet, whatever and live. Watch the sunset, don’t time lapse it, listen to the concert don’t tape it, and enjoy the presence of your friends don’t just tag them. We have to power to make social media and technology what we want it to be.

To vote: https://www.redbullcanyoumakeit.com/en/applications/6482/

Follow their adventure on Instagram: @headbullsincharge