Good morning Starshine, the Earth says hello!

Great news you surfers in Cyberville, I didn’t die my first day back in class after what seemed like a year of not having school. You think I’m kidding about the whole year thing… I’m not [Juanito looks at his readers in an intimidating manner]. So now that I just had my jerk moment, let’s get down to the jist of the story. I know I was on my soap-box before saying how worried I was about not being prepared for class and probably on the verge of being murdered by my teachers for not keeping up-to-date with the class material, but c’mon, I’m an 18 year old in college.

Is this real life?

Anyway… my teachers were less prepared than I was! Not only did they have to adjust our syllabi, but they had to come up with methods on how to successfully teach us the class material with less time; poor, unfortunate souls. And amidst all this turmoil in my life, I can’t help but to be so thankful for my iPhone for not only keeping me connected with the outside world, but letting me drown myself in games, music, Facebook, and countless brain-killing websites designed to keep you from being productive. Without my phone I wouldn’t have had the privilege to answer my phone and hear President Boren say how saddened he was to have to tell me school was cancelled. I also wouldn’t have been able to see the snow coming my way and all the alerts The Weather Channel was issuing. My phone literally was the reason I was able to keep up-to-date with everything that was happening during the Snowpocalypse.

iParadise

The days have passed and I feel that sickening college routine starting to solidify itself in my life once again and as I recount the days during the Snowpocalypse, I can’t help but notice how dependent we - ME - are on our smartphones. In our world today, we have become so accustomed to having the world at our fingertips – literally – that we don’t take the time to really see how easier our lives our made by having these phones. I mean we were in the comfort of our rooms, our beds, and were able to receive calls from the university, were able to check the weather alerts, and were even capable of checking the school website without having to set foot outside. These phones have simplified our lives to the highest degree by being so efficient in every aspect of our lives. If I think about going through a day without having my iPhone at all, I feel like vomiting. This idea of being connected via smartphone to the world is so ingrained in us that we view this belief as the “norm” in our world today… and I don’t think it’s a bad belief seeing as how much we can do with this technology and how in many ways, it has made communicating with others, a bit more personal, even if we may be miles and miles apart.

Moral of the story

In my life, I can honestly say that this little phone has sure made life a heck of a lot easier. From being able to access the world-wide web, to being able to send countless messages via text and e-mail, my iPhones has really helped stay in sync - aren’t technology puns hilarious - with the world. The snow craze was a great example of showing how efficient and quick it is for one to access information regarding weather conditions and how easy it was to find out if school was cancelled. Even after the snow, teachers send us e-mail after e-mail that ends up in our jean-pocket or purse or bra or even underwear - yes, I know of people who keep their phones tucked away in their underwear. So as I finish ranting about my smartphone and how much of a benefit it really is, I want you to really think how life would be without these phones. It may seem like a silly question, but how easy would it be for us to access information in mere seconds?

 I love sounding so philosophical. It makes me believe my college education is actually going to come in handy…

sNOw!

First off, ya'll (yes, I'm from Oklahoma) should know that I am a freshman at the University of Oklahoma -- it's okay if you are jealous, it's normal -- and this last week I didn't go to class at all; chill mom I have an excuse. Oklahoma got hit with a snowball the size of the moon and since Oklahoma is not very quick to react when it comes to snow and ice and hail, the one and only, President David Boren, decided to make our lives a little bit more sunnier (irony, isn't it funny) and cancel class. I know what you're thinking, who wouldn't like that? But as the week went on I became a gopher cooped up in my room with a newfound addiction to junk-food and Jersey Shore; depressing, I know. So as much as this hurts me to say, I need school. Somewhere deep down inside I feel that thing called a conscience telling me I shouldn't be enjoying these snow days too much because I'm at college for one thing: to get an education. So hopefully as I start school next week I'm not too lost because that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you feel something is about to go horribly wrong, well I've had that feeling all week leading up to the first day of classes.. So wish me luck folks. I'm going to need it..