A week ago, I challenged myself to not wear headphones everywhere; I’m almost always sporting them while going from place to place, and I wanted a shift in perspective. I usually justified wearing headphones based on my love of music and the constant tinnitus in my ears. While those two reasons are certainly valid, I found more and more that I was using my headphones as a crutch so that I could more effectively block out everything and everyone around me.

By tuning myself in and noticing my surroundings, I found out about some things that I (and many others) have been missing out on.

1. Birds!

I like birds. They sing songs and fly around, two things that pretty much no other animal does. I feel like more people should pay attention to them, but they kind of fade into the background when you have your head down and your headphones in. They’re a nice thing to have around, especially considering that they fly south for half the year.

2. Eavesdropping.

I was at Java’s and a guy was trying his best to impress his date by talking to her about his high school AP Chemistry test. The weird part? She seemed into it. You stay you, RIT.

3. Planes and helicopters.

RIT is next to an airport, so an airplane or a helicopter is a common sight on campus. I find it relaxing to watch them fly by, something I would ignore if I had headphones on.

4. Really, seriously weird out of context quotes.

“It think it’s scabies, but that’s pretty normal.” That is an actual thing I heard. Are the scabies normal for you, or do you commonly think things are scabies? I don’t know which is better/worse.

5. Easier interactions.

When you see a person you know walking to class, the most you can do while wearing headphones is nod in their direction. Unless they get within talking distance. Then you have to whip off your headphones while muting the current song; it’s pretty all or nothing. Without headphones, you can just say a quick “hi” without the whole process.

6. Small talk.

I have always felt (and still kind of feel) that small talk is very forced and very uncomfortable. But interacting in small, meaningless way with strangers gets easier when you’re more aware of your surroundings.

7. Oddly poetic out of context quotes.

“Logic is easy. Girls are very, very hard.” Again, stay you, RIT. Take the #NoHeadphonesChallenge, you'll never know what you're going to discover!