I get it, you desperately want to know what your crush is up to at this exact moment and instead of asking him/her, you creep his/her account on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook.

You're sitting at a bus station, bored out of your mind, wondering if the bus is ever going to come. So you pull out your phone and start watching this week's Youtube videos on the channels you subscribe to because what else would you do to pass the time?

Are we there yet? You've been sitting in the back of the car for half an hour already while your parents talk about their days and what they think about the weather. Naturally, you whip out your smartphone and scroll through the latest posts on Yik-Yak in search of a good laugh.

Have you ever stopped to wonder why we own devices that have access to most of the information in the world, yet we use them to keep tabs on people and watch cat videos? With approximately 65 percent of American high school graduates going to college, the pursuit of higher knowledge is evident, which begs the question: why aren't we using the easily accessible resource at our fingertips?

Next time you have time to waste on your phone, try these tips:

• search a topic of interest in Google Scholar. This will generate a list of scientifically published papers about that particular subject.
• Youtube your favorite music genre to discover more artists or new artists. This is a great way to help unreached talent enter the competitive music scene while it gives you the opportunity to find something new you enjoy.
• look up podcasts about current world issues.This will help you stay informed on what's going on in the world around you.
• write a blog post. Blogs are a great way of communicating with friends and family who live far away. You can keep people up to date on your life, vent about your latest pet peeve, encourage people in their daily lives, or open people's eyes to an issue going on around them.
• Pick a topic you don't know much about and research it. There is so much information to discover on The French Revolution, slavery in the USA, Canada's political system, the Israeli conflict, ISIS, new inventions, etc.
• Start learning a new language. You'd be surprised at how many resources are out there that can help you learn verb conjugation, sentence structure, and vocabulary for commonly spoken languages.

On the off chance that you happen to be having a hard day and you're feeling a bit down, I do highly recommend watching cat videos or sporting fails to give yourself a good laugh. And if you happen to be away from your friends and family, checking social media for an update isn't the worst thing in the world. I just hope, as one person to another, that you find your value in so much more than your Instagram likes or Facebook friends.

Or you could, maybe, if you're feeling adventurous, possibly, try talking to the person sitting next you at the bus stop because he or she is a person too and would probably enjoy meeting someone new.