They say senior year is the best year of high school; well, that’s because the ambiguous they has blocked out first semester from their memories. I’m sure the year will improve, but so far it has not been the fun-filled, slack-off year I was hoping for. As a result of the college process, the need for solid first semester grades, and the resulting lack of sleep, my friends and I found ourselves suffering from stress, anxiety, and overall misery. I knew that I would be unable to block the stress caused by impending application deadlines, so I took other measures to improve the quality of my life. One of these was deleting Instagram. Keep in mind--I did not delete my account, but merely the app. Why did I do this? some of you many wonder… Well, I often found myself scrolling through Instagram when I was attempting to procrastinate which just caused more anxiety about the assignment I was avoiding. I also often found myself looking through others’ pages and wondering why I wasn’t as happy, tan, skinny, or vacationing in the Bahamas like they were. This caused nearly immediate self-deprecation and in turn--stress. So I did the deed: I held down the Instagram app until it started to wobble and I pressed the big red button (or in this case, the little red “x”). I began to use my phone far less, and procrastinate in other, more fulfilling ways--like taking full advantage of my family’s Hulu subscription. While deleting Instagram did not solve all my problems and has certainly not made this year “the best of high school,” I have found that I am much happier and less stressed than I was when it was downloaded on my phone. Some people say they just need social media, but I promise, you don’t. You can take my advice or not--it may work for some and not for others, but if you find yourself with a weight on your shoulders you cannot seem to shake, take the step, and press that big red button.