Throughout the past four years, music has been a major part of my life. Music has been in the background every time I’ve written an essay, studied for a test or done any sort of work. Each time I have checked Canvas and seen a bad grade or forgotten due date, I likely had a playlist on shuffle. Over the past few years, I was inspired to start making monthly playlists as a way to have a capsule of what I resonated with each month. Below, I listed a song from each month of senior year and my thoughts on how it impacted me.
August – Another Day in Paradise, Quinn XCII
The end of summer and beginning of school is always a hectic time, even more so for seniors. The last first day, rush to finish college apps and sadness over summer ending is a crazy combination of feelings, but this song got me through by reminding me to take a breath and not worry so much about uncontrollable things.
September – Landslide, Fleetwood Mac
For any rising seniors, I recommend listening to this song if you don’t already know it. It perfectly sums up how it feels to be leaving high school, especially the lines “Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you.” It hits every senior at a different time, but the realization that you’ll soon be leaving what has been your life for the past 18 years is a scary one, and it helps to have a song that echoes that.
October – Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
One of the saddest lasts I had during senior year was my last homecoming. I’ve always loved homecoming, and this year was the best yet, with Gloco on Friday and a fun dinner and night out with my friends on Saturday. As bittersweet as things can often feel during senior year, I encourage every rising senior and underclassmen to remain in the moment and don’t let sad feelings distract you from the happy moments you might be missing.
November – Defying Gravity, Wicked Movie
November of senior year is a pretty weird time. College applications are (hopefully!) all submitted, and the second quarter is just beginning. During November, my biggest struggle was managing my demanding workload with seeing my friends, something I feel like everyone has issues with at some point. While I ended up putting in a lot of hard work in November that put me in a good place for the end of the semester, I wish I had also made more time for friends. For any rising seniors, as important as your work is (don’t neglect it!), senior year is such a special time and you should spend as much time as you can with friends. Seeing “Wicked” was by far the highlight of this month, and this song choice powered me through.
December – The Girls, Megan Moroney
I can say without a doubt that December was a rollercoaster of a month that was made easier because of my friends, leading to this song being the most notable for me. In December, I had a lot of fun moments, but also got deferred from my ED school, leading to a lot of mixed emotions. One of the biggest lessons I learned from this month is the importance of surrounding yourself with good people and showing up for the people you love. Having a trustworthy and understanding support system is essential, a lesson I’ve learned throughout high school.
January – Green Light, Lorde
While none of the events in my life from January really relate to the message of this song, my discovery of this song in January was a great moment, as it quickly became a favorite. In January, I just felt stuck in a waiting period, with early action decisions coming back as deferrals and not feeling motivated in my classes. Although this month wasn’t particularly great, this song helped me to get through and look forward to more exciting things I had coming up.
February – Runaway, Galantis
February was without a doubt one of the best months of senior year. February meant the International Convention for BBYO, a youth group I’ve done all throughout high school. It was going to be my last one, and I had an amazing leadership role as well. During this month, I got to interview two Olympic gold medalists, see amazing concerts and meet old and new friends. It was truly such a fun time, but the result of all of this was I ended up being in school for just nine days in the whole month. Although the amount of work to catch up on wasn’t pretty, that brings me to another important lesson: Don’t be afraid to ask your teachers for help or more time. My experience has often been one of crazy nerves before asking a teacher something, then relief when they are inevitably helpful, because most teachers here truly do just want the best for students.
March – Lost, Frank Ocean
March! The month of college decisions. Any senior knows that March is when pretty much every RD school comes out, as well as any early deferrals. While I was pretty nervous about what March would be like, as I was supposed to hear from 10 out of the 14 schools I applied to, I was also beyond excited because I knew I would likely be committed to college by the end of the month. For any juniors about to go through the college application process, my biggest advice is to not let it take over your life. I made the mistake of doing that in December during ED release time, and by staying calmer this time around, it was an infinitely better experience. I ended up getting into Vanderbilt, my top choice, while listening to this song so I felt like it was the perfect way to summarize March.
April – The Show Goes On, Lupe Fiasco
One of my favorite songs ever, and also one of the most inspirational songs I know (in my opinion). In April, I was finally committed to my top choice school, and senioritis was also beginning to peak. Life as a fourth quarter senior is the best, and this song to me emphasizes that feeling of being carefree and the idea that everything always works out.
May – Good Morning, Kanye West
As the days tick down until I walk the stage at DAR, I’ve found myself listening to this song repeatedly, often for one line in particular: “Welcome to Graduation . . . from the moments of pain look how far we done came.” Every person who steps through the doors at this school will experience some pain along the way, from failed tests to lost elections, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that life always goes on. As someone who always strived to be perfect academically, any bad grade often felt like the end of the world, but looking back on it, I can confidently say each moment of pain from the past four years has shaped me into the student and person I am now, and I owe it all to Wootton.
Finally, I wanted to thank Evva Starr and Common Sense for the past four years. Without Mrs. Starr and the outlet that is the Common Sense, I never would have become the writer and person I am today, and I can’t thank Mrs. Starr enough for always giving me the room to grow. You supported me from day one, and I’ve had the best time as a Common Sense staff member and I can’t believe it’s all over. Thank you for everything!
