Join the world, don’t hide behind your headphones

There are rumors circulating around that iPods and mp3 players are more damaging to our ears than we expect.  

My concern, however, is the negative effects on socialization that students are blindly partaking in.  

We are all victims of the tendency to ignore our surroundings and rock out to a good song.  But what exactly are we ignoring?  And can an iPod really damage our social life?

This past week, I decided to tuck my iPod away and walk to all of my classes without it.  

I assumed that nothing would change.  

But, as usual, I was wrong.  

It turned out that I ended up running into various friends on the way to class, especially friends I haven't seen or talked to in months.

And in all honestly, even though we only chatted for a minute or two, it was so great to catch up!

 I realized that if I had been jammin' to my iPod, I would have walked right past them.  

I hide behind my iPod like Harry Potter hides behind his invisibility cloak.  This is problematic.

Whenever I walk past someone who is listening to music, I pretend they aren't there, and I know the feeling is mutual.  It seems these days like there's an unspoken rule around campus that if you don't want to be bothered, just listen to music.  

The real damage, though, is the lack of socialization.  You never know who you're going to run into on campus.  If people keep walking around with their attention in a different place, they are less likely to make new friends and feel welcomed.  

And for me, an extremely friendly person, I don't want to be giving off that vibe.  So I'm going to attempt not to listen to my iPod as much.  Hopefully I'll regain a little more control of my social life.

As for the rest of you introverts hiding behind the music, take out your headphones and start socializing!  

I promise that your SRU experience will be enhanced tenfold.