As a student living at Pennsylvania Avenue Residence Hall, I have to ride the bus more often than your average student. And it is during these ten minutes of jolting around that I find myself mindlessly scrolling Twitter one day and maybe Facebook the next.

It’s starting to feel like no matter where I turn, another one of my friends has shared an article ridiculing the amount of time Millennials spend on their phones. You know the typical claims: “Your smartphone is ruining your life,” or “Your cell is depleting the quality in human interaction.” I’m often dejected at what these journalists are trying to say as I am scrolling through a newsfeed instead of engaging in conversation with the people around me.

At parties, you’ll see faces lit up in dark rooms as girls and guys alike write in their GroupMe conversations or scroll Instagram rather than socialize with the people they are with. We are a generation that is used to having the whole world at our fingertips in a small device that fits right inside our pockets. It is easy to be tempted into always playing with the infinite amount of information you can gather on your phone, but this factor could be enough to drive someone to believe that our phones are the enemy.

Then I remember that a big way my younger siblings and I communicate is through tagging each other on shared articles or texting each other funny links. It is always a quick way to say, “I miss you and this reminded me of you.”

People come from all around the world to attend the University; it’s a huge school with a diverse population of students whose hometowns range from China to small, Chicago suburbs to even here in Urbana or Champaign. All of these students have friends and family back home with whom they wish to continue a relationship.

Hayley Nagelberg, freshman in ACES, explains how an app on her phone helps her communicate with loved ones from her home in Israel. “I downloaded Whatsapp because our texts in America don’t send to Israel unless you’re (connected) to Wifi … Whatsapp helps me communicate with my Israeli friends from here.”

Smartphones have awesome apps that can help you become the greatest, best friend you want to be, even from far away. You and a friend could both download the same game and play each other when you cannot be together.

“When I’m by myself, I love to use my phone for Skype and Facebook messenger to contact my family and friends that are all over the world,” says Mike Schreiber, a professional working for Illini Hillel. “It is amazing that social media has given the resources to connect with people; however, when I am with people I choose to interact with them.”

Our phones can be addicting if used incorrectly, or rather profusely, but they also can be tools in a world where your loved ones’ homes and calendars don’t align with yours.

My sister, brother and I all have very different schedules. While both of them are high school students who can actually afford to sleep, I am a college freshman with nothing but empty coffee cups and those weird caffeinated chocolate bar wrappers in my garbage can. Despite our unique schedules, we can continue our relationship in a way that isn’t possible without our smartphones.

Texting, Skype, Snapchat and Facebook have all been important, if not critical, parts of my relationships during my first month at school. I’m not implying that a phone can duplicate conversations that could happen in real life given that it was possible. However, in cases where your friends and family aren’t with you, phones give you a creative way to communicate more efficiently.

So when I watch the next trendy video like “Look Up!” (a 5-minute film urging people to unplug) I will say: “OK, right after I send a picture of this pug with a funnel on its head to my friend, Ricky. After all, he lives 4 hours away.”

Nothing will make me feel as close to the people at home then a quick weekend visit, but until then, I am going to meaningfully use my resources to send them reminders that I miss and love them.

Leah is a freshman in Media.

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