Consumption of New Media and it's Effects on the Study Abroad Experience

     My first communications professor at UIC was Adrienne Stoner in the fall of 2009. I can recall her emphasizing about her study abroad experience. To learn that she is now a doctoral candidate is wonderful and I find her research to be extremely fascinating.
     Adrienne studies the relationship between two variables: the study abroad experience and the consumption of new media. She defines new media as cell phones, Ipads, mobile technology, Skype, and the Internet. Adrienne is curious to study how often do people use new media while studying abroad and how does it effect their comfort zone? How much harder is it for an individual to adapt to the new culture abroad with new media? 
     She presented the class a model which represents different phases that an individual encounters based off the duration of time spent abroad (measured in months). It begins with the honeymoon phase, in which an individual is happy and excited for a new experience. It then transitions to a culture shock, in which an individual is completely thrown off from their personal "norm". It is followed by adjustment, which finalizes into mastery. 
     From my personal experiences, I have not studied abroad, but I have traveled across and throughout the country. Although it was a short trip that lasted a couple weeks, my experience was phenomenal. It just so happened that the day before I had planned to leave for my trip, I broke my smartphone. I was extremely upset. My phone provider could only lend me a "temp" phone that was probably from 1992 that still had the classic "snake game". There was no internet connection to my phone, no gps, no Facebook, Twitter, nothing. I would call myself a frequent user of social media, so this was very troubling. However, now I am grateful that things played out that way. I was completely isolated from the internet. I didn't bring my laptop along the way either. The only way people could contact me, was if they called. Because my phone was broken, I got to experience my adventure first hand. I wasn't checking my email, my tweets, or my Facebook. I had full focus on my journey and adventure, in which I could learn more about different cultures. 
     Once I got to the west coast after 2 weeks of exploring the southwest, I gave in and used a pay per minute to check any emails or updates I've received on Facebook. Because I was paying to use the Internet, I didn't spend much time because I didn't want to spend much money. 
     I agree with Adrienne's study in which new media does in fact impact our abroad or traveling experiences. Technology is great, but sometimes we need to set aside our Internet and smartphones and really engage ourselves in the new culture that is presented in front of us.