Building a Community

Within five minutes, grounds go from quiet with a few students scattered on the lawn to loud and bustling with people. Classes have been let out. You would assume this time of day would be optimal social time--with so many people out, it'd be extremely unlike to go without seeing someone you know. There's definitely socializing going on, but unfortunately not with the people you'd think. Instead of talking to the people around them, a shocking number of students are glued to cell phones or have earphones jammed in their ears. I find this incredibly frustrating. Not only am I sick of getting bumped in to by people who aren't looking where they're going because they're furiously texting, but this dependency on technology works against the type of community UVA strives to build. When a person is on their phone, it implies they'd rather be with, or at least rather be talking to, someone other than you. So, I'm hesitant to say hello to friends I pass that are on their cell phones, and usually pass by without acknowledging them so as not to disrupt their conversation. Also, having loudly attempted to get the attention of someone listening to an iPod and gone embarrassingly unheard, I no longer do more than wave to people who pass me while listening to music. 

I can't pretend that I'm a model community member myself. The ten minutes between classes is ostensibly an ideal time to call home and check in, or to send a text to the friend I haven't checked in with in a while. But what I, and many other people (teens and adults alike), forget, is that by using our time to hear about somewhere else, we sacrifice our right to be here. Since being at UVA, I've realized this more and more, and as a result I'm trying to adjust my behavior. Making my friends in Chicago wait ten minutes for my texting response is worth making a new friend on the walk back to my room. I'm learning to put my phone away, and as far as I can tell, I'm surviving just fine. Be conscious of those around you and put your technology on hold--it's worth the change.