Cellphones and my Anxieties

Lately, I've felt as though my school-life has begun to tear at the seams. I have been doing the best I can to keep myself organized, however, there is always the little things that seem to slip my mind. I think one of the biggest things that has been making me feel like this though, is the amount of contact I've had to keep with people. Often when arranging meetings, I often prefer face to face, and if it slips my mind,  I'd just go straight to emails, not having a cellphone on hand at all. Now, however, it is becoming more difficult for me to remember, or even sit down and email. And if I don't respond to an email in time if I see one, there's no way to cll me, which makes things even more difficult.

As my time on earth has passed, the need for a cellphone increased tenfold. When I was younger, I had told myself that I wasn't EVER going to get one. I saw all my high school classmates with their own, spending a ridiculous amount of time with them in class, texting away and fooling around, not showing any respect towards the teachers at all. It wasn't a big deal to have a cell phone to me then, anyways. It wasn't like anyone wanted to contact me.

Now, it seems more than ever, EVERYONE needs to get into contact with me, or I want to get into contact with them. There was a point in time when I had a pay-as-you-go that my grandfather had no use for anymore. As soon as I brought it with me to university, people were sending me texts and calls out the yinyang. And the minutes expired every month. If I wasn't out of minutes and I didn't have time to put on more, it became frustrating because people were always trying to call me.! Now that this year's reached the half-way point, I am getting a little frustrated, as I always need to send somebody an email, and it's always in a short amount of time. I've been hassled by friends before about not having a cellphone and now, I'm starting to feel the need to conform.

As a music educator, being easy to contact is incredibly important. And now that it's come to an age where cellphones are an absolute requirement for EVERYONE, I'm noticing how not having one's affecting my life and everyone around me. But the question is, can I find a cheap way to have one, without putting myself into debt or the need to walk miles to put money on it? Is it really worth it to put yourself into debt over a tiny little machine?