Back in November, my AP Language teacher challenged us to go out into the woods with only paper and pencil, no technology or human interaction, for at least 45 minutes, and write a reflection on it expressing what all we learned from the experience. When I went out there, I came back with a new appreciation for nature.

For 45 peaceful moments, my mind was at rest. Nothing to distract me from the rare time I found to simply reflect on life, stress and worry free. There was such a sense of calm around me. I headed to the mill and sat down by the river in a miniature “cave” I found. People were up above hiking and walking along the bridge, as well as the occasional photographer passing by, but aside from the few, there was hardly a voice to disrupt my time with nature.

The air felt quite crisp, as the temperatures were rather chilly. I could almost see my breath as I took time to breathe in the fresh air, a treat that I don’t get to enjoy as much as I would like. The trees around me were bare. I could feel the leaves crunching underneath my shoes as I walked around the area. They had all turned to brown by this time, a few reds and yellows mixed in. I felt like a child again as I sat down in the piles upon piles of leaves. There were many memories popping into my head that I hadn’t thought of in years. It was the smell of pine and the leaves entangled in my hair that reminded me of one exact memory from when I was about the age of 11.

I was outside in my front yard with my sister and two friends from across the street. We each had a rake and were raking the leaves into our own piles, in a contest to see who could create the tallest leaf pile. As they began to grow, my step-dad, a child at heart, came out and asked to join in. He said, “let’s make it more interesting. I bet the four of you combined can’t make a pile as large as I can.” The challenge was on. We quickly swept our separate mini-mountains into one, and built it up as high as we could. In the end, none of truly cared about the competition. We ended up carrying out massive leaf fights, and jumped around in the piles until we were called in by our parents for dinner. It was a memory of fall that I don’t think I could ever forget.

Sitting out in the woods made me realize how much I miss the freedom I felt when I was little. The only source of technology I had to distract me was the TV, and even that was hardly anything. Nature doesn’t get as much appreciation as it should nowadays due to the overwhelming amount of technology that is available. Phones, tablets, and computers are used not only for an extensive amount of time for pleasure, but are also utilized in school and learning now more than ever. Just when it seems like we can have a moment to simply learn, the familiar phrase “take out your phones” is spoken by the teacher, and the escape is ruined. Though I, too, am guilty of being a teenager obsessed with my phone and social media, taking a break proved more rewarding than I had thought it would. The only thing I could think of while outside originally was why on earth I was spending my time doing absolutely nothing when I had so much homework to complete back home. It took a while to fully comprehend that the point of this assignment wasn’t to make me stress out even more, but to find a way to escape from it all.

Living a simple life in this day and age unfortunately is a close to impossible task. I do believe, however, that a mental break from a short walk in the woods every once and awhile could be beneficial to every media-crazed person out there. The forty-five minutes I took as time to myself proved to be one of the best ways to escape from the nonstop world around me, and I wouldn’t have traded that time for anything.

Therefore, I challenge each and every one of you currently sitting on your phone or computer reading this article to turn off your screens, head to a park, a trail, or even your backyard, and take a moment to enjoy the peace and relaxation that technology-free time can provide you.