The world we live in is growing more distant and uncaring every day. Technology lures us in with promises of convenience and proceeds to separate us from personal attention, and the personal attention that we do get is often cold and indifferent. ATMs, Internet shopping and electronic checkout at the supermarket, all designed so that we can go through an entire day without having to face anyone.
Even school research projects can be done entirely in front of a computer screen. While downloading music, checking your e-mail and instant-messaging your friends, you can find all that latest information on poverty, starvation and worldwide- epidemics.
Every time we come together as a class we defy this new trend, and we have flourished in our adversity of it. A wealth of humanity, we share our ideas, our stories, our hopes and our dreams.
We make lasting friendships and we clash in heated disagreements. We learn to listen to one another, building on our understanding of literature and history through others' observations and reactions.
Why is it that we always start talking when the teacher turns their back? Why is it that we stay out in the hall chatting with one another until the second that - or a few minutes after - the bell rang? Why do we all know the story line to Dawson's Creek, even though only a few of us watched it? Why is it that Ms. Callaghan congratulated our class on keeping up lively discussion and a high energy up to the very last days of the school year?
We crave contact, we crave each other's company, because more and more it is being taken away by what is convenient.
All of us have helped each other evolve by taking part in human experience, sharing our differences. We have state-bound athletes and we have state-bound mathletes. We have Nate- squared, el Presidente and a human Swan. Our class has individuals who have already devoted themselves to a profession: kindergarten teachers, doctors, veterinarians, and in our Salutatorian's case: a door-to-door salesman.
Because we are so diverse and because we love sharing this diversity, we have become strong.
Soon many of us will be taking part in the formation of new classes. Despite what your parents may have said, the most important thing you will do at college will not be hitting the books or acing a test. It will be strengthening your personality - your individuality - through new friendships, new disagreements, new environments and new experiences.
The evolution of technology has had a great impact on our lives, both positive and negative. While it is great to be able to travel faster and research anything with the smartphones that now contain almost every aspect of our daily lives, there are also many advances within the realm of technology. Nicholas Carr presents information on the dependency aircraft pilots have on automated technology used to control airplanes in the article “The Great Forgetting”. Likewise, in “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” written by Stephen Marche, the result of isolation and pseudo-relationships created by social media is shown throughout the article. We live in such a fast paced society with so much information at our fingertips that we don’t make time to go back to traditional ways to ensure safety or create in-person relationships, making these two articles very relevant to the world and its current events.
In the world today, people are constantly surrounded by technology. At any given moment, we can connect to others around the world through our phones, computers, tablets, and even our watches. With so many connections to the outside world, one would think we have gained more insight into having better relationships with the people that matter the most. Despite these connections, people are more distant to one another than ever. In the article, “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk," author Sherry Turkle details her findings on how people have stopped having real conversations and argues the loss of empathy and solitude are due to today’s technology. Turkle details compelling discoveries on how technology has changed relationships in “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk,” and her credibility is apparent through years of research and the persuasive evidence that supports her claims.
When any adolescent enters High School they are still young and on the search to find themselves. High Schooler’s often make bad decisions, but quickly see that these mistakes there to be learning experiences rather than to dwell on them. Often, for many students, High School does not present an extreme amount of stress, rather it is a a place to learn more about yourself. Once college hits, stress is the only thing on the mind. College students are always worrying about if they did their homework, if they have a big test coming up, if they studied enough, and if they even have enough money to pay their bills. So the key to college is to know that the fundamentals of college are different than high school, be responsible and reliable to yourself, do all your homework, and most importantly be respectful to your peers and teachers
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” (Keller) College is definitely a challenge, but it is also a very beautiful thing. Many students enter college expecting knowledge and a sense of direction. It may be hard to balance school between work, you’re social life, life at home, personal issues, etc. A few challenges that I know about all too well have to deal with money, transportation, and procrastination. You spend all of high school listening to your teachers and parents preparing you for what is to come in the near future. The truth is that there is only one way of truly learning, from experience.
People have the fundamental desire to maintain strong connections with others. Through logic and reasoning, Sherry states, “But what do we have, now that we have what we say we want, now that we have what technology makes easy?”(Turkle). Face to face conversations are now mundane because of the accessibility to interact at our fingertips, at free will through text, phone calls and social media. Belonging, the very essence of a relationship has now become trivial.
It's been great attending County Christian School. Where else do students walk into school at 7:55 and receive a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie? Then, after third period, Mr. Obrastoff combs our hair and sings to us. It really has been a delightful place to go to school.
Another equally important reason is people don’t get as much physical interaction, because they are always talking on the internet. People text their frien...
The college life certainly has its share of fears, cheers, and jeers, but it really can be a worthwhile endeavor. The most important task is to find the college niche, that little place that just feels right, and not just the first time. Once I found clubs, organizations, jobs, and social circles in which I felt like a valued participant, I really seemed to be at home, and that's not something I could have found just by being matched with good roommates or schmoozing at a toga party.
What people don’t realize is that this making their brains less useful and the tech companies richer. People never turn off their phones because they are always connected. Because of the Internet and the devices allowing us to use the Internet, the world is easily accessible right under our finger tips (Bradley, 2009). Therefore, people become desensitized to the world around them. Erica Bradley’s article “Technology Is Making Us Lazy”, declares that Americans have no reason to get out and socialize. Because of all the social networks and the capability to communicate online, Americans lack the ability to communicate face-to-face (Bradley, 2009). For example, many people using social networks often create a new image of themselves to hide behind because of their
As I was pondering what to speak about tonight, I started thinking about what has been the main influence in my school experience. I realized that what has shaped me most has been my teachers. What is a teacher? After 13 years of school, believe me, I have an extremely good idea of what a teacher is. Two teachers began to teach me, my father and my mother. The poet Ann Taylor wrote, "Who taught my infant lips to pray, And love God’s holy book and day, And walk in wisdom’s pleasant way? My Mother."
College is something that many high school students anticipate; A new transition between two very similar yet diverse worlds. This transition can be something very exciting but also very nerve raking and difficult. Students, Ready to leave behind high school, being researching to find the most prestigious schools and programs available, soon forgetting to remember that although the two, high school and college have their similarities such as doing classwork, and homework the differences are endless.
Technology has changed the way society interacts with one another. While technology has allowed society countless means of social interactions that weren’t possible 50 years ago, and has allowed people to sustain long-distance friendships that would have otherwise ended, the fact remains that technology is still taking over human interaction. Many may argue that this change has been positive. However, there are those who believe that this is one of the numerous social disasters when it comes to technology. It is believed that the changes are ruining the quality of social interaction that we all need as human beings.
The over-use of technology is creating an impatient society and it is also diminishing once-valued personal interaction with others. More often now days, people would rather let a machine take a message instead of answering a call; missing the opportunity to have a personal conversation. Many of us would rather have the instant gratification of watching a movie instead of reading a book or sending a text or instant message instead of meeting with a friend for coffee and conversation. Therefore, society is becoming increasingly impatient and impersonal with interactions. Those types of behaviors create lonliness in our lives despite our “constant connection” with others through things like cell phones and Facebook®. This way of life is also more common with the younger generations within our society.
Most of us would agree that college is one of the most exciting, yet most challenging times of our lives. It is typically our first time living away from home for an extended period of time. When I went away to college, I was eager to embrace the next chapter of my life because it was something life-changing that I had yet to experience. However, entering college was also scary for me because nobody handed me a “how to survive college” guidebook. I feel that everyone should be given a book full of tips and tricks that outline the ups and downs that lie ahead throughout our college experience, so that we can maximize our time in school and reach our full potential. That this why this anthology is important for all of us. This anthology summarizes some of the most important tips to survive college, that I have learned thus far as a current freshman about to finish my fall semester. No matter who you are or where you come from, these few, simple tips to be explained will help ease the transition from high school and living at home to college and living on your own. This topic is meaningful because I know how it feels to go off to college excited for the journey ahead, nervous to leave family and friends, and not knowing what to expect. This guidebook should help future freshman to succeed and make the most of their
Consider a situation where a family is sitting at the dining table, the son pull out his iPhone, connects to Wi-Fi, and starts chatting with his friends on “Facebook”. The father has a Samsung Galaxy S4 in his hands and he is reading the newspaper online and using “Whatsapp” messenger while having his meal. The mother is busy texting her friends. They are all “socializing” but none of them has spoken as much as a single word to each other. This situation can be commonly seen nowadays. Technology has brought us closer and squeezed the distances but in reality, it has taken us away from each other. The rapid growth of technology has brought about significant changes in human lives, especially in their relationships. The latest technologies have turned this world into a “global village” but the way humans interact with each other, the types of relations and their importance has changed a lot. The advancement in technology has brought us close but has also taken us apart.