Zach Martin iExamen #1

Zach Martin

Professor Ellis

EN 101

9/26/13

iExamen1: Introspection

     

Originally I had planned to do my Examen this past Sunday; however I got carried away with NFL football and lost my focus. I decided my Examen might be better spent and have more meaning if I pushed it back to Monday. I have done a few of examens at my Jesuit high school with minimal results. In those past examens, my fellow classmates and I were forced to sit in silence and self-reflection for the duration of a 45 minute class while our teacher read biblical excerpts to us.With this past history, I have to admit, I wasn’t very happy to hear that we were assigned an Examen in English 101.

Getting up any Monday morning is always a struggle, but this particular Monday was even more of a fight because I knew of the Examen to come. Normally after getting up and showering, I would normally pour myself a bowl of cereal and watch Sportscenter. However, instead I decided to join my roommate at the kitchen table for breakfast. We ended up having a lengthy discussion/argument about where to study abroad that never would have happened if we were glued to the TV watching ESPN.

During the day as I paid more attention to how I interacted with people, I noticed that I mostly communicate with humor and also a little bit of sarcasm. I can see how sometimes people might misinterpret my humor if we’re not talking face-to-face. One funny moment was when my roommate Pat and I spent about five minutes doing humorous impersonations of our accounting professor who has a funny southern accent. Another thing that I noticed is that I have a distinct memory of what type of shoe people wear. In some cases I might not even know a person’s name but I can recognize them by their shoes. I am a “shoe person” and enjoy the fashion of shoes and collecting them.  I tend to try to read into people just by looking at the shoes that they are wearing. These were two interesting things that I picked up on during the day.

For the one hour that I was to spend without electronics, I did a little reading for pleasure. I flipped to my bookmark in The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson, and read away. This past summer, I travelled to Puerto Rico with my family, which is where this book takes place. Because of this, it’s easy for me to slip away into the Caribbean world that Thompson portrays, and I found this relaxing. After this time with my book and without my phone or laptop, I found myself in a sort of low key mood and didn’t have the urge to check Twitter and Instagram every thirty seconds. Also, I found myself more willing to just relax with my roommates rather than feel the need to always be doing something. This detachment from electronics was, to my surprise, one of the better parts of my day.

Overall, I actually really enjoyed this Examen. Thankfully it was a lot different from the type I used to do in high school and I feel that I got a lot out of it. It was interesting to see how I interacted with people, and I actually realized a lot about myself. After doing this, I will try to make it a point to talk with people face-to-face rather than by text or email.