I was 19 when I got my first smartphone. It was the end of 2013, and almost everyone I knew already had one. I considered myself behind the times, and finally decided it was time to upgrade. Little did I know that having a smartphone would change my life in good, bad, and ugly ways.

Getting a smartphone was a way for me to make many positive changes in my life.

1. I was able to do my work in a more effective manner. At the tips of my fingers, I could check and respond to e-mails and look at my school accounts no matter where I was. No longer did I have to wait to get back to my room to get my laptop. It was just so convenient.

2. I was more socially connected. A lot of times, I would feel left out, as my simple, old cellphone could not group text. All my friends were group texting each other while I was over there just sending one text at a time. This way, I was able to join in on those group texts and no longer feel left out of what they were saying.

3. There were apps that improved my everyday life. Whether it be a fitness app that would tell me how far I had walked for the day or a group text app that allowed for me to stay in contact with the different organizations that I was a part of, life started to get easier as these apps helped me out with my everyday tasks.

Getting a smartphone was not all positive, though. Before I received one, I often saw the people around me continuously engulfed in their phones. I told myself I did not want to be like all those people, and made myself promise that when I did get a smartphone, I would not let it take over my life.

I broke that promise.

1. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check all my social media accounts. I need to be up to date with everything, even though I know it has no significance to my life whatsoever.

2. I go above and beyond to make sure I have seen every picture on my Instagram feed and every MyStory on SnapChat. I don't even care what either of them have on them for content. I am just so mindless to the act, and, for some reason, addicted.

3. If I have nothing to do, and even if I have something to do, I am on my phone. I am constantly looking at my phone, going through every app, even after I already have. I get bored with myself doing this, but I keep doing it anyways.

And it only got worse.

1. I was no longer appreciating the beauty of the world. My first reaction to wherever I went was "how can I take a good Instagram picture here?" Having a smartphone led me to feeling good based on how many likes I could get on a picture... how petty is that?

2. I would waste hours on my phone. I felt like a mindless zombie, constantly scrolling. I could have been doing many other, and better, things with my time, but instead, I would just keep scrolling.

3. I would get paranoid over little things. Why did my friend not like my picture? How come one of my staff members said that in the group text app? I would think about it over and over again until I came up with ludicrous reasons.

I got a smartphone for all the positives that came along with it. I did not want it to become a vital organ for me, but it did. Slowly but surely, having everything at my fingertips did not seem like such a great thing anymore. I knew it was bad, but I did not realize how bad. You see everyone else being mindless zombies on their smartphones too, so you just feel like its the social norm.

There is a whole world out there that people are forgetting about. They are too busy looking at their phones to see it. It's time to put down the smartphones and embrace life for what it really is.