By Diego Donna
Do you have what it takes to be the very best? Did you choose the right starter? Pick the right team and know how to defend your gym? If you know what I am referencing then you are in touch with what has most of society glued to their phones in this day and age. The newest craze could be the new Snapchat filter that turns your face into a fruit or changes the sound of your voice but I’m willing to bet my binder full of 1st edition cards that Pokémon Go has dominated the attention span of people with smart phones. The release of this game could not have come at a better time. There is new music out from Green Day, Blink-182, and Sum-41. For those baseball fans, the Chicago Cubs have a great chance at finally breaking the curse and winning the pennant! If you didn’t know any better you would say that this year is straight from Back to the Future. We already have hover boards and now we just need a DeLorean parked on campus and a good lightning storm.
Pokémon Go is a perfect way to get some walking steps in across campus and an excellent opportunity to connect with students outside the classroom. Many have the game on their phone and play already. I listened to a Ted talk the other day from Adora Svitak who made the excellent point that as adults we try to educate and bestow all this knowledge on the youth of today. Knowledge that we have accumulated over the years through our own life experiences and education. We often miss the greatest opportunity given to us: learning from our students by flipping the script. This app provides us with the venue to engage in conversation with our students and learn something new about them. If you need a reason to escape the office for 15 minutes, take a look at APU’s Pokémon Map and go for walk. Make plans with a coworker or a student and take them with you even if you don’t play Pokémon Go, because let’s be honest... the person you invite probably plays.
**If you do sign up for Pokémon join Team Mystic because as the immortal DJ Khaled once said “We Da Best”**
