Deafening Silence of a Classroom

Sitting in a dimly lit classroom, with an overwhelming ‘stifling’ feeling, I have to contain my urge not to run out of the room in a desperate gasp for air. Every time I glance up from my laptop screen, my eyes have to adjust to each new classmate walking in the door. They all know what to expect in the next hour and fifteen minutes: a stuffy professor who attempts to be comical by bringing up what the “cool kids” enjoy: beer. What he misses, though, is the simple fact that nearly 99% of the room is zoned into whatever is on their computers. I have a feeling that he will catch on, but for now let’s see what all we can get away with, shall we?

My hands are typing, scrolling, typing, scrolling, over and over again until the clock strikes 4:45 p.m. I am not the only one, though. The girl sitting next to me has been concealing a pair of headphones behind her back to disguise the fact that she is watching Netflix rather than paying attention to the professor drawing shapes and figures on the board. Realistically are we learning anything? Not really. It is quite the sad truth. I am so focused on homework, projects, and tests for other classes, not to mention 24/7 work responsibilities, as well as helping plan my cousin’s wedding and bridal shower. On top of all of that I have my CRU events multiple times of the week, so I am forced to do all my homework and thinking during allocated academic time slots. This is where I thank God for technology. Yes, it is a crutch, but it does decrease my stress level by 1000 percent.

All of a sudden, my attention is snapped back to the professor as he starts asking questions.

“What did he just say?” I text to my neighbor.

In response, she texts me with, “I have no idea, something about marketing I assume.”

How did we get lost so quickly? I could not believe what was happening. Even as my professor continued lecturing, my hands were absentmindedly typing and scrolling away on my laptop. It was almost as if they had a mind of their own.

Resting silently on the right side of me was an empty chair. There was no resemblance of a student ever sitting there. The guy that usually sits there typically decides his time is better spent in the real world, rather than wasting time in a class where we are learning absolutely nothing. It might sound harsh, but it is the truth. An even worse fact is that I could walk out of the class more confused than when I walked in.

Shockingly, he showed up right as the professor was about to close the door. He took a seat and immediately powered up his Apple computer. The first program he initiated was safari to check on email notifications to see if any other classes had been cancelled that week. After being let down from that quick search, he received about ten messages that popped up on the top-right corner of his screen. By how quickly he responded, I could tell it was an important message or person.

Ever so often, for the entirety of the class, a new message or notification would pop up in the same place, but on my computer. I am, unfortunately, in a family group text and they just love to blow up my messenger in the most inconvenient of times.

“What was it this time?” I think in my head. “Someone’s birthday? Katie’s wedding? Are we not spending enough time with Grandma?” Who really knows?

My fingers glide across the trackpad clicking off of the paper that I was writing on Google docs for my English class to check what this mass message was all about. It was a photo of wood being built into a swingset for my sister with the message: “Got started late but should be done tomorrow,” my dad stated. In response, my sisters and brother-in-law praised my dad’s handiwork. Not surprisingly, though, was the absent response of my mom. The one who is constantly fighting the world of technology.

It is 4:40 p.m., only five more minutes until I can escape from this muddled powerpoint. I can hear laptops closing, backpacks zipping, iPhones unlocking. Everyone checking to see what all notifications they missed, and seeing how many Pocket Points they achieved that day. Even better they are discovering what all free stuff they get from sitting through a lifeless class all about the basic terms of marketing and beer. The funny part is the professor has known for the past half hour what is running through all of our minds: “how in the world can we get out of here? Miraculously, the rest of the semester we seemed to get out of the class earlier and earlier. I think he knew the power that our technology had on us and that he was never going to win. He released us into the outside world and we continued on our way, phones suctioned to our hand and earbuds glued to our ears.