I am most concerned with my body paragraphs in my essay. Often times, I go off track and start writing about things that don’t reflect my thesis and don’t address the prompt. On Tuesday I would like to hear how everyone felt during their time writing their essays. I would hope to hear that I was not the only student stressed out of their mind.

I read Hayden Poole’s thesis in class today. He did an effective job at displaying how he disagrees with the author. While his thesis was effective, that was all he had. With the other draft I read, there was no clear thesis. There were contextual clues that pointed to the fact that they disagreed, but it was not evident through the thesis.

Cellphones are extremely addictive. We constantly feel the need to respond to our friend’s texts and see what someone posted on social media. I personally am on my phone for around 2 hours a day. While this seems like a lot, it is very little compared to the vast majority of people. I took an online quiz to see just how addicted I was, and I scored a 70 which placed me in the moderate nomophobia category. In Nicholas Carr’s article, “How Smartphones Hijack our Minds,” he states that more than half of iPhone users couldn’t imagine life without their phone. I believe that if the smartphone was never invented, our world as a whole would be better off. Kids wouldn’t have to constantly feel threatened by others through social media. They wouldn’t be so easily distracted in school, and drunk driving would still be the leading cause of fatal car crashes. While I disagree with Author Carr that phones “hijack” our minds, I do believe that they do contribute a large portion into our decision making and actions. My results from the quiz I took neither support nor deny Author Carr’s argument. I sit in the middle of those who couldn’t imagine life without their phone, and those who couldn’t care less.

Author Tom Vanderbilt argues that the past tended to focus more on their technological advancements being preserved than their own cultural achievements. In his article, he repetitively argues that our today is not much different than the past. Vanderbilt states that many of the technological achievements humans have made is centered around technology discovered in the past. I agree because while time passes, our opinions and views change based on experiences we live through. I cannot accurately predict my weekend plans because my life is constantly altered by factors out of my control.

Many college students after graduating will be struck with the realization that just because they have a degree, that does not mean they are guaranteed a job. My brother graduated from UWG last year, and it took him forever to find a job in his focused field. Once he did get the job at iHeart Media, he was once again dismayed when they told him he would make only $10 an hour. He makes twice that much bartending at a restaurant in Atlanta. I strongly predict that jobs which require higher education will not seem as important to the average person in a decade’s time. Blue collar jobs such as a crane operator or a mechanic will be in a higher demand, which will result in a higher wage. I consider this literally on a daily basis. Why am I potentially wasting 4 years of my life and thousands of dollars to pursue a finance degree when I could get a job being a welder or crane operator and make the same if not more money? When I have kids, I will not stress them with college. If they want to go to college to pursue a degree in a certain field they are passionate about, then I will encourage it. If they choose to pursue a trade such as welding because they are passionate about that, then I will encourage that as well.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton