Name: Kristle Darlene Gil

Reaction:

It is a breath of fresh air. This is the first time I read this story; it was so good that I read
it twice. I need to read it again because the first time I read it, it did not sink in. It is so good that
you just can’t avoid reading it. It’s like I am in a place where I need to see it for myself to realize
its beauty and essence and get my act together. I am deeply moved by the story because I am
one of those people who really like starting a conversation. I agree with her justification that
interpersonal communication is really important. Although technology can provide a lot of
means to communicate, having conversation or communicating in person is unbeatable. You
can’t beat the beauty of conversing by just using technology; we need to talk to people to feel
the sincerity and the warmth. Her story is really timely and I believe everyone will agree. Even in
my family, there are times when we forget to converse and talk to each other because we are
too preoccupied with our phones, checking messages, doing school activities and everything
else. It is inevitable because we are in an era where everything goes smoothly using technology.
However, there are times when we are drowned and controlled by it. I am grateful to her for her
story because it gives me chills and makes me want to read more of her work.

Reflection:

The story is really meaningful and timely. Reading the story gives me new perspectives,
and I need to consider a lot of things. We think that online connection can save us from stress,
problems, boredom, and everything. However, it will just aggravate our problems. We tend to
forget the real meaning of communication now that we are surrounded by online platforms that
allow us to communicate easily. I, myself, need a lot to work on when it comes to
communicating because I feel like I am more focused on social media than conversing and
discussing things with people in person. I agree with what she said that online access is valuable,
but no matter how valuable, it is not a substitute for conversation. There is something special
about speaking that Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms cannot provide. I
believe we need to wake up and face reality, as well as learn to interact and hold talks. When we
fail to converse, we tend to have more troubles since we are unable to open up and express
how we truly feel. We're stuck with ourselves, and even if we can connect through our digital
devices, we're still lonely and alone.

Social media can really leave a big impression on people because there is stuff circulating
around the internet that is edited and made up. And so, we become big liars, trying to spoon
feed ourselves something that we are not. There's also a part in the story where a sophomore
seeks dating counsel from artificial intelligence rather than his parents. This zeal reveals how
much we have confused talk with connection, and how we appear to have accepted a new type
of delusion that accepts the simulation of compassion as sufficient for the day. If you were to
think it’s very funny and delusional how a sophomore would want to talk about love and loss
with a machine that has no experience of the arc of human life. It happens because many
people find comfort in using devices, only to discover that the underlying reason is that they
don't know how to open up and start a conversation with their parents. I guess it is really timely
and that I feel like through this story it urges me to talk to my parents when things aren’t going
my way, fed up and even if I am fine. Conversation is something I need to do or value as a
human being. This is a great story, and I believe that many people still need to be reminded of
how beautiful it is to communicate and converse in person rather than allowing ourselves to
post online. That will not help us at all. We should all remember what Tony A. Gaskins Jr. said:
"Communication is like oxygen to life; without it, it dies." So, what are you waiting for? Look up,
look at one another, and let's get this conversation started.