The internet and technology have become part of every single aspect of my life from relationships to communicating with friends and family, to education. It’s safe to say that life will be extremely difficult and tiresome without them.
I see myself privileged to be the generation that always has computers and the internet around. Social media makes up a big part of the internet and as it is now, I let people know what is going on from dawn to dusk. I depend on the internet to communicate more than ever, and it has become an integral part of any means of communication I use. Not being able to communicate with family and friends can lead to various health conditions like stress from curiosity, and anxiety.
Without the internet, I feel cut off from my family, friends, and the rest of the world. A week without the internet and technology in my view appears almost impossible even though I was not raised around technology and the internet, I had to develop and adapt to the new way of life. I can honestly say I will be completely devastated if there isn’t internet and technology for a week.
Growing up, I remember when I was in secondary school (boarding school). I had limited access to the internet and technology because I had no device or phone of my own. Many students from the school were from different parts of the country and the only way to communicate during the holiday was through the internet which made me start using the internet and technology. During breaks, I was not able to communicate with my friends and classmates. I felt distanced during resumptions. I was always silent during important discussions because I didn’t know what happened during the holidays. I was not able to connect with them. Most times, I would ask my friends after resumptions to tell me what happened during the holidays and most of them found it funny or annoying. My life was lonely and sad because I couldn’t communicate with any of them during important discussions and was cut off from the most vital decisions made in my absence. Assignments given to us as a group would always be difficult for me to write because I wasn’t able to reach out to my colleagues during the holidays thereby causing a reduction in my academic performance for that term. After graduation, I was forced to lose communication with them due to a lack of internet and technology of my own, and this affected my ability to communicate with others when I entered university until I bought my own smart device.
The internet has played a very significant role by providing endless information and knowledge about any topic, using search engines like Google Chrome, YouTube, and more. I, as a student benefit very much as the internet gives me a broader understanding and knowledge about my subjects which helps me learn and excel in my academics. As a student, I can’t count the number of times I go to search for things, especially things related to my academic work. I prefer to sit and research everything online to reading textbooks. Currently.
In my country Nigeria, all federal universities are on strike and I am a student in one of the federal universities. Through the internet and technology, I have been able to monitor situations around me like education [academic staff union of universities strike], and being aware of the meeting and press conferences held to avert the strike. Without the internet and technology, I would be ignorant of information concerning the strike and when it will be called off. Also, I would leave my brain inactive for a week which could pose danger in the near future. Lack of understanding and information leads to low self-esteem and my inability to participate or feel competent within my environment.
The internet and technology have created innovations that allow me to improve the quality of my life. It has affected the way I think. Also, it has helped me develop myself both academically and socially. It has helped me achieve better educational outcomes across the globe, developing skills that I need to live in Nigerian society. The internet has led to important innovations in educational content, opening massive online courses by developing course materials from one country available to a student like me in another country. Lack of internet and technology for a week leads to setbacks and falling behind in the acquisition of skills.
The internet and technology take various forms and 80% of Nigerian students use them daily. It has changed the way we Nigerian students visualize things globally since we have enhanced interaction with people from various parts of the world. However, I realized some areas in the country are still lagging behind due to inflation of the dollar (1-dollar= 710 naira), crises, and the cost of data in Nigeria.
The cost of 1GB of data is 1200 naira which has decreased the use of the internet in Nigeria. An average Nigerian student like me uses a minimum of 2GB a day for research and communication which is not affordable for students or too expensive. Most of the time, the data we use evaporates easily or will just disappear from one’s handset without any information from the operators. This has made it very difficult for a Nigerian student to enjoy such services. In my case, I do turn off my data when I am not online in order to save data and this has led to several missed information and late response to important messages.
In conclusion, I believe the internet has simplified both my academic, moral and social life. I would most likely admit that physical survival can’t be achieved without the use of the internet and technology, and a day without them is difficult and inconvenient. The internet and technology have made a very huge impact in my life within the space of four months of constant internet and technology. I can tell how far I have grown in every aspect of my life: physically, academically, socially, and otherwise through the use of the internet and technology. With this, I can convincingly affirm that ‘’A week without internet and technology’’ will be very devastating.
