Honorable Mention -- I Was Technology

By Chee Vang, 17, Harding High School

Chee Vang, 17 Photo Courtesy of Chee Vang

I used technology as a replacement for going out and doing things. I was too plugged in to technology to be happy

In the winter, my schedule was a snowstorm full of technology. My life was wrapped in technology because I didn’t want to go out in the cold. On weekdays I spent my time watching shows like Gossip Girl, Glee, Grey’s Anatomy, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Smallville and Tyra’s talk show, Desperate Housewives and CSI. I also spent about two hours every day on Facebook and surfing the Internet. I had a cell phone so texting and talking on the phone was added onto my massive technology usage.

Looking back at the past winter, I was very unhappy. I used technology as a replacement for going out and doing things. I was too plugged in to technology to be happy

I gained about five to ten pounds because I did not go out and exercise. My grades were poor because I didn’t have any time to study.

I was also unhappy because I didn’t really go out to interact with my friends. I just used my phone. But texting and talking on the phone is nothing close to the feeling of closeness when I hang out with my friends in person.
But I wasn’t thinking like that at the time. I didn’t really talk to anybody, even my family, because I always had my MP3 player ear buds in. I remember one time my family was playing Monopoly. I didn’t notice how much fun they were having because I was on Facebook and listening to music on the laptop. It was only after I got off and they finished playing I saw that I missed a big family moment. There were times my boyfriend came over to hang out with me, but I was too busy hanging out with my cell phone. We would get into arguments because I couldn’t put my phone down.

After the winter ended I got out of my indulgence with technology. It was no longer cold so I went out more. I realized how depressed I was in the winter. I was so attached to technology that I forgot myself. I was detached from myself and detached from my mind. I had lost time using technology instead of doing things that I used to do.

Now that I realize how technology made me so unhappy, I don’t use it so much. I am very thankful for technology, but it’s not what makes my everyday life. I am back to being me.