The Internet Trap by Camille

The Internet Trap by Camille - January 2014 Scholarship Essay

This past semester was my first semester of college. It was all going pretty well. Then I discovered Tumblr.

I knew that the Internet could be addicting and distracting, something that is not conducive to studying and doing homework. But this was the first year I had had my own computer, and so it was the first time that I was able to surf the Internet instead of doing my homework.

It didn’t take me long to discover that my relationship with Tumblr was not one of mutual benefits. Sure, it’s fun, but the hour or two it took me to go through my dashboard every day left a lot less time to do my homework.

Unfortunately, finals were coming up. I knew that if I didn’t figure out a way to break this addiction, my grades would be less than satisfactory. And I knew that it would be my fault for not being able to focus. I was not happy that I had discovered the social media website.

First, to prepare myself, there was Thanksgiving Break, during which I spent so much time with my family that I had barely any time for the Internet, except at night. Then I decided, for when I went back, I would have to give up Tumblr. I decided that it would nominally be my sacrificial act for Advent, but in truth, it was really to keep myself from using the Internet for procrastination.

The several weeks up to and including Finals week went quite well. I refused to let myself on Tumblr, until after I had finished everything I needed to do for the day, by which time I needed to go to bed. Over the years, I have learned that the most crucial thing to studying is focus and concentration, and once you have that, studying is not hard at all. And I learned that with the distraction taken care of, I was really able to focus, earning me A’s and an A- in my classes. I intend to keep up the same schedule this semester. It is hard, but once I am concentrating, I find it much easier to keep it up.

I can only hope that everyone else does not get caught in the same trap.