Connecting with Nature and Ourselves this Earth Month by Maria Laguna

It is likely that throughout one’s life they’ve heard some variation of the “unplug to recharge” mantra. Whether it be from the preachings of mental health specialists or just inspirational quotes on Pinterest, it's a widespread phrase that must be drilled into our heads—especially in such a technologically-driven world.

But now in 2025, it's difficult to find time where one can separate themselves from their devices.

Here at USC, my phone connects me with my campus community: mobile-ordering lunch at Ronald Tutor Campus Center, texting my friends to study after class, or hearing my Google Calendar alert me that my club meeting will begin in thirty-minutes. Even in classes at Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, we rely on our computers to type up new articles and gain expertise on Adobe Photoshop.

While our technological dependency can exhibit many positive influences on our lives, I believe there’s a lack of effort on our part as Internet consumers in unplugging—and I’m guilty of it too.

When thinking about Earth Month, I can’t help but reminisce on the many memories I have appreciating the nature around me. I have lived in Southern California my whole life, with my house back on Coronado Island being roughly a 10-minute walk from the beach, I’ve always been surrounded by the beauty of nature

However, now that I live in the city of Los Angeles—a city where car travel and traffic is the norm—I’ve felt detached from my usual relaxation in nature. Perhaps this is why my screen time had increased, but, nevertheless, I recognized how this was a bad practice.

Our University Park campus has beautiful third spaces, so, now that flowers are blooming and the sun is peeking out of the April skies, all of us should make more efforts to get off our devices and enjoy the nature we do have access to. I encourage Trojans to get a picnic blanket to read the latest Daily Trojan print-edition in Alumni Park or relax with peers under the shade of the trees in the Annenberg Alumni Plaza.

As much as technology connects us to the media we work so hard to create here at Annenberg, we all deserve a chance to unplug. So, let’s appreciate our campus’s natural beauty and, simply, touch some grass instead of our screens.