In the blink of an eye, my life changed after one experience I had my sophomore year of high school. Before the incident, I could be doing my homework, studying for a test, or typing an essay while simultaneously soaking in the latest gossip all at once on my phone. It was during the two months without my phone that I recognized how divided my attention was. I changed from just skimming through my textbooks for answers to becoming an active reader. I learned to balance my time, say no to my friends when I had work to do, and maximize the ability of technology to help me, not to hurt me. I continued to follow this new way of reading and studying all throughout high school and I still use it in college now, however, I involuntarily embarked on a journey that would later open my eyes.

There was never a day after school I was not preoccupied with either club affairs, Church rehearsal, or household responsibilities such as checking my brother’s homework, cooking, or washing the dishes, the list goes on! I had no time. Whenever I got the opportunity in between these activities, I would jump on my phone to check my assignments, and most often I would do my work or study during my two hour journey to school or from school on the train. I had it all figured out, so I would never miss an assignment. If I could not find my textbooks online, I would take pictures of each page from the physical book itself. However despite my intelligent plan, I was experiencing a phenomenon I could not come to terms with: I was not doing well in school. I was a B+ student and very unsatisfied. I knew the first step to resolving a problem was identifying it, but still I could not see what the issue was. This was the case until one experience gave me a revelation about my issue.

    One cold fall night, I was sitting on an MTA bus coming home from school. I was sitting in one of the first three seats in front of the bus (you know, the ones with the sticker, ”Offer Your Seat To An Elderly, Disabled, Or Pregnant Person,”) and I was on the phone with my cousin. I had my earphones plugged in, and I remember while on the phone with her, I texted her, “These two ragamuffins across from me won’t stop staring at me,” because they were right in front of me and there was no way I was going to just blurt that over the phone. I was totally unaware of their plan to rob me. I had my phone in my hand and in what felt like two-seconds, they snatched my phone from my hand and ran off the bus. Those ragamuffins stole my phone. I jumped off the bus and tried to run after them but I left my bookbag on the bus and the bus driver had closed the doors and was driving off, so I had to choose which one I was more likely to save. It was dark, I was under pressure, my heart was racing, and I was sweating profusely despite the cold air sweeping across my face. There were two boys against one me; I was most likely to lose. 

I decided to take the defeat and started running after the bus, which stopped for me and allowed me back on. It was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life, I mean how do you just get your phone snatched and stolen right out of your hands on the bus? When the bus had gotten to the last stop, the police were there, and I gave a police report and asked them to escort me home (mainly because I was scared my parents were going to flip out about the stolen phone). Suddenly a myriad of thoughts flooded my mind: "How am I going to wake up on time for school?" "Does this mean I have to actually carry my textbooks to and fro?" "I might even have to actually use my desk to sit down and do homework at home.” My fear of being disconnected from my schoolwork was short-lived as my relationship with pen and paper developed. Gradually I was beginning to understand my problem.

    The incident happened in October and my parents made me wait until Christmas before I would get my new phone, so I was forced to assimilate to the new lifestyle. When I actually started doing my homework with pen and paper versus typing it up and printing it, I realized that I was not rushing (due to the fact that I am very particular about neat handwriting), and I was actually retaining the information I was writing out. I learned that by reading my textbook online, I was paying less attention to detail; physically reading it, I noticed textbooks are littered with little captions that often help to summarize the main idea of the topic being discussed. Those few words used to summarize a whole page of material could help to bring clarity to a very confused learner, and all the classes I was taking were new to me, so I was very confused. I became a better learner and soon I saw myself achieving my academic goals without relying on Google for quick shortcuts, neither were any all nighters necessary because my best friend could not ring to distract me. I finally realized what would move me from being a B+ student to an A+ student.

    Regardless of one's popularity status, whether he/she can get a text back from mom, or even how many group chats that person belongs to, with today's technology, particularly pertaining to phones and computers, we are constantly bombarded with spontaneous notifications. These notifications may include incoming emails, alarms/reminders, or daily inspirational quotes that help us to be positive everyday in today’s bizarre world; together they work in helping us to fail in one respect: they temporarily cause us to lose focus. It was after my phone was stolen that I learned how significant those two months were to me. It did not just help me to read more critically for any subject I was studying for, but it also caused me to get into the habit of emulating the same techniques I see in other pieces of literature to create my own masterpieces. Now I believe in notebooks, even if the majority of what I have drawn inside are doodles littering the margins of each page.