Last Thursday, October 3, at exactly 12:30 PM, I began my media fast. Now believe me, I love technology as much as the next self-important, over exposed teenager, but in all honesty, I didn’t think the media fast would be very difficult. When Professor Mittell initially introduced the assignment I even rolled my eyes and silently scoffed and at my classmates that were obviously emotionally disturbed at the thought of not having access to twitter for more than 60 minutes. That having been said, as the deadline approached, I started to have a really hard time finalizing a date to start the assignment.

For me, easily the hardest thing about the media fast was finding a day where I could not look at a screen. Although I don’t claim to have a tough life by any means, the work at Middlebury is very challenging. Finding a day where I couldn’t have the ability to check my email, work on a paper, or search for information was extremely difficult. As a result, I decided to it while traveling to NYC to compete in a Model UN. Although I really missed the ability to listen to my iPod, I enjoyed the radio (despite the amount of bad country music that was played) and managed to catch up on some sleep.

One point that really hit me was how much easier it was to do the media fast when I didn’t have my phone or my computer close to me compared to when they were in reach. All though the expression “Out of sight, out of mind” might be slightly cliché, I found it very accurate. When my phone was in my pocket, I was extremely tempted to reach for it but I left it at the hotel that night, I didn’t really miss it. I think this all boils down to conscious choices. Making the choice to leave technology behind for a day really made me aware of how much of my technology use is subconscious. Whether that’s just quickly checking Facebook or reading my email in the car, a lot of my media use completely fades into the background. Although I hope to never live another busy day without access to technology, I also hope that I can start using media more purposely.

“To change a habit, make a concious decision, then act out the new behavior” – Maxwell Maltz