{"id":142,"date":"2018-09-15T19:32:15","date_gmt":"2018-09-15T19:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commtech.nyuad.im\/homework\/?p=142"},"modified":"2018-09-15T19:32:17","modified_gmt":"2018-09-15T19:32:17","slug":"gjorgjis-off-grid-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/commtech.nyuad.im\/homework\/2018\/09\/15\/gjorgjis-off-grid-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Gjorgji’s Off-grid Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is not the first time I\u2019m going off-grid and taking time for myself, but it\u2019s my first time in these two weeks since the beginning of the academic year. And it was all worth it \u2013 I re-energized myself and focused on the activates I was doing as well as enjoying the time with my friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve never been to the gym without my phone because I always\nlisten to the playlists and use some apps for workouts. So, it was not that\nchallenging. Rather, it was really cool. I took my watch with my to use it as a\nstopwatch and relied on the playlist going on in the gym. They\u2019ve got some nice\nmusic playing over there that I really enjoyed. I did feel like an outsider\nbecause majority of the people had their headphones on, but I realized I\nactually enjoyed working out without any device in my possession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dining Hall experience was interesting because I completely\nforgot about the time and focused on eating my food slowly. Even though I went\nthere without a pre-scheduled dinner plan with friends, I still met some of the\npeople I meet every day; this time was different. We got the chance to talk\nmore than we\u2019d talk when we all bring our phones with us. The conversation lasted\nfor one-and-a-half hour, not realizing we were there for that long \u2013 usually we\nwould eat fast, chat a little bit, and leave. This time we talked about different\ntopics including politics and post-graduation plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most valuable part of the experience was the one going\nout. Having observed how most of the people in the clubs use mobile phones to take\nmultiple pictures and post \u201cthe coolest\u201d Instagram stories, etc. (I do the same\nthings many times), I realized we do not take time to enjoy life, ourselves and\nthe time spent with those surrounding us. Without my phone, I felt like I was\nback in my parents\u2019 youth, which I actually enjoyed a lot; I could dance to the\nmusic and have fun with friends not focusing on who is going to see my story or\nlike my new post (I actually realized that my parents had lots of fun when they\nwere going out). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This whole experience reminded me that disconnecting yourself\nfrom the internet can give you a different perspective on the world and the\ntype of life you are actually living most of the time. It served as a lesson\nfor me that IT IS OKAY not to rely on any technological devices. However, I did\nfeel bad for not replying to my family on the messages for more than 8 hours as\nthey can get worried \u2013 it is daytime, I\u2019m offline and am not receiving their\nmessages. Speaking of this, maybe they should also try this \u201cexperiment\u201d \u2013 and maybe\nnot very frequent communication between both sides would be beneficial in\nfuture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n