I found Tuesday’s class interesting. Before I begin this post, I would like to note that this response is coming from someone who has diagnosed A.D.D. I include the word “diagnosed,” because there is a difference than being easily distracted or having trouble focusing on something. I frequently hear people say, “Wow, just had an A.D.D. moment.” College and high school students pay hundreds for Ritalin or Adderall because of the belief that it can help one focus. Athletes are even trying to use those medications to enhance their energy levels during competition.

According to Hayles, “we have been called the ADHD generation,” and agree (191). I overheard a girl in my high school history class telling her friend that her mom paid her doctor a lot of money to prescribe her Adderall. I wanted to go up to her and tell her that she probably wouldn’t need to rely on drugs if she stopped texting during class. Hayles says, “There is little doubt that hyper attention is on the rise and that it correlates with an increasing exposure to and desire for stimulation in general and stimulation by media in particular (191).”

I tried to send three emails, but got too distracted and read someone else’s.

Now, back to Tuesday’s class. The combination of Twitter, ChatRoom, email, and even YouTube was overwhelming. I had to close out of Twitter. I was paying too much attention to my newsfeed rather than class. ChatRoom was really fun at first, but then became such a blur. That’s when the exhaustion starting hitting me. Even before I was diagnosed with A.D.D, I have found that after I am deeply focused on something, I get very tired. I tried to pay attention to the ChatRoom, but I ended up responding to comments had already been forgotten about. That was before I even realized there was an email thread going on. I joined didn’t start emailing until the end of the class. . The Young-Hae Chang videos became mesmerizing for me. It didn’t matter that the music was intense. It gave me something to just stare at without having to interact.

Tuesday’s class was a learning experience for me. I had no idea I would be able to relate the class to my A.D.D, but believe it or not, I was feeling the same frustrations I have had while taking a math test. Focusing too hard on something only leaves me staring into space. After class, I went home, turned off my computer for the night, and took a wonderful nap.