Honestly this piece was kind of out of the blue. I was definitely inspired by Olivia Rodrigo and Cate Canning amongst others when writing this I think. I just kind of stepped into their shoes. It started out as a very different song, and then I decided to scrap it and came up with this. It's not perfect, but it's not supposed to be. I plan to continue working with it and other pieces I've written in the past and hopefully get instruments and tracks behind a final version of the vocals. I hope you like what I've got and would like to thank you for taking the time to listen to it as well as for considering me for this scholarship :)

Smartphones have become a daily obsession. I grew up in a world where almost everything switched to smart devices by the time I became a teenager. I got my first smartphone when I was in the fourth grade. Since then, it has become a major factor in my day to day life. It simultaneously connects and disconnects me from the world. My smartphone connects me to everything and everyone. I’m able to stay in constant contact with my friends as well as occupy myself with things like mobile games, reading the news, watching videos on YouTube, etc. It allows me to be contacted with information about the activities I participate in. With about 60 seconds of typing and the press of a send button I can ask my coaches, teammates, teachers, basically anyone anything I need and get a response back within the hour. Having the ability to be constantly in contact with people through the use of a smartphone has also helped a lot during this past COVID-19 pandemic. We have all been stuck at home for the last year and for at least myself it has been really nice to be able to still be in contact with people and continue to express my creativity or thoughts through social media. While my smartphone has been really helpful for me in these ways, I definitely feel that it’s also hindered me a lot too. It keeps me addicted. It’s almost like its a noninvasive drug for humans. It never enters our bodily systems, yet everything it holds has become so addicting we just never want to look away. Just late last night as I was laying in bed I decided to open TikTok and when I closed it I texted my best friend entirely shocked because I didn’t realize I had been on there for 40 minutes. Sometimes I’ll spend most of my day on my phone because I get so distracted by everything I can do on it. It’s a gift and a curse having one available to me 24/7. When it comes to smartphones and being behind the wheel it’s like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Cell phones bring advantages and disadvantages with everything humans do. I don’t have my full license yet so I have to use my phone to track my drive times while I drive. My family uses them for GPS or when something happens contacting others to go help them. This really helps because we have a way to make sure everyone is okay when things like car accidents happen. It also puts people in danger having a phone and being behind the wheel. Phones take notifications and calls nonstop and if you don’t silence your phone for some reason all of those noises are going to end up distracting you. Many people will end up sending a text message or answering a call while they drive which distracts them from the road and could cause an accident. For me personally, I’ll start my timer, set my phone with the screen away from me in the cup holder, and drive without touching it, but for others it’s very hard to ignore it like that. Overall, for me smart phones pose good and bad things in every aspect of life. They constantly put me in danger, distract me, help me, and keep me connected. My smart phone is a huge part of my life no doubt, but sometimes I wish it wasn’t.