Practical Application Project

 

For this project I chose to do the silent retreat because I thought that it would be the most feasible. Yet, I was mistaken. Those twenty-four hours seemed to be the longest of my life because I am constantly on my computer and my phone, and sometimes on both at the same time as well as the rest of my generation. We have been brought up knowing that multi-tasking is a must especially when it comes to technology. Even as I type this I am using my computer, listening to music, and texting. Most days I cannot go more than two hours at a time without using one piece of technology or the other so you can imagine how difficult this could have been.

During this whole experience, I had to make sure my computer was not charged and my phone was hidden because I knew I did not have the self-control to go the whole twenty-four hours without any form of electronics. Picking up my phone to check messages or social media is a habit that is hard to break even when they are nowhere in sight. Continuously, I would reach for my phone and search for it in a panic just to realize that I wasn’t going to find it anywhere around. Starting the day was the worst because I did not know what I was going to do for a whole day in silence so I began to doze off and ended up napping for quite a bit. When I woke up, I still had to find something to do to fill the time so I decided to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald which happens to be one of my favorite novels.

The book is about a normal guy, Nick, moving next door to this super rich man, Jay Gatsby. They become friends as Gatsby confides in him and gives Nick a “purpose” that he had been searching for. Nick moved out to that house to find something that he could not find in the city where his old life lie. He found companionship with a man who seemed to have everything. It turned out that what Nick was looking for, Gatsby could not give him because Gatsby was trying to find the same thing. They needed purpose and couldn’t find it in the world. I couldn’t find it in the worldly things either like my phone and other electronics that are supposed to keep you connected. My purpose and my drive comes from those people that depend on me and believe in me. They give me a reason to be more than a title that society gives me.

Throughout the book, it talks about the adventures Gatsby and Nick go through, the good and the bad. However, the end of the book started speaking into my life and got me thinking about my life and what I want my purpose to actually be. Nick reflects on how he so badly wanted Gatsby’s life of glamour and what looked like love from all the people around him, but that changes when Gatsby ends up dead and has nobody around to care about his death except for Nick. Gatsby was obsessed with the past and that is what held him so far back compared to Nick who realized that he has a future to look forward to. Reading this book lead me to thinking about what my future had in store and what am I going to do with it.

My current goals are to be accepted into the Athletic Training program here at Baylor and graduate in 2018. After I graduate I would love to move back to my hometown, San Antonio, to find work in a high school as an assistant athletic trainer with a side job of teaching health or sports medicine. If there is a different job opportunity somewhere else in Texas I would gladly accept and I’ll just have to adjust to the different surroundings. When thinking about my future I needed to keep in mind my purpose and where that purpose was going to lead me. My purpose that my future holds is to care for high school athletes and guide them into becoming mature young men and women. I want be an exemplary example of a leader for them to want to follow in my footsteps.

The silent retreat started out difficult with the constant aching I felt to reach for my devices and stay connected to the world, but that began to subside as the hours ticked by a lot slower than I had been expecting. After I got passed my withdrawal of technology, I read in order to fill the time and ended up receiving a lot of insight into this experience and my own life from it. Nearing the end of this required yet insightful experience, I realized that while my purpose does not come from technology, I was ready to get back to my devices and the world they brought with them. Most would not so willingly admit to this, but technology has become engraved in our everyday lives to the point where not being connected can hinder the success we’re trying to achieve. Being aware that technology does not define me or my purpose is what allows me to continue a healthy relationship with the ones that matter around me.

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