The Power of Music

It is well known that music  and a person’s mood go hand in hand. But how much can music really affect someone’s mood? The answer is a lot. When you hear that certain song; that certain combination of notes; that certain beat -- it has the power to change my mood from sad to happy, happy to sad, stressed to calm, etc. For me, music is an important aspect of my life. It is therapeutic. Whether I’ve had a bad day and need some sad music to make me feel less alone, or I’ve had an amazing day and just feel like belting my favorite songs because I’m happy to be alive, music is always there.

If you were to look through my ipod, you would find at least one song from every genre imaginable. It ranges from Hip Hop/Rap to Film Scores to Country and even some Show Tunes. I’m always prepared for whatever music my mood demands. Why limit yourself to one genre or one type of music, when you can enjoy them all. each type, each artist relating to a different part of your life. Let me paint a picture for you. I’m on my way to my volleyball match, but I just woke up from a long nap and all I want to do is go back to sleep. What do I do? Sure, a caffeinated drink might help, but why spend money on that when I can have my own form of caffeine pouring out of my speakers. I get in the car and turn on some hardcore rap with a nice, fast-paced beat to get me pumped. Just like that, I’m ready to play.

One of the hardest questions for me to answer is “What’s your favorite song?” It seems simple, yet it is impossible to answer. My favorite song when? When I’m sad I’d have to say it would be any song by Ed Sheeran. When I’m happy, I’d have go with some catchy alternative music or that kind of feel-good country music you don’t normally hear on the radio. When I am feeling dramatic I‘ll typically turn on that 90.9 classical music radio station full blast, or blare film scores from my ipod, making every single movement seem that much more epic. But even then, these answers are constantly changing. I love music too much to narrow it down to just one song.

There is nothing better than that sense of accomplishment when you know all the words to a song. Whether you like a song or not, once you know the words it is almost impossible to do anything but sing along or mouth the words. Personally, one of the most impressive things is to be able to rap along with your favorite rappers. This includes artists such as Eminem, Macklemore, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne. One thing they all have in common is their fast lyrics (which can also be very clever). If you want to impress your friends, learn these lyrics, and when their next song comes on the radio, you can show your stuff. Rap like nobody’s watching, because I can guarantee the people who are watching will be nothing but impressed and jealous of your ability to spit fire like one of the greats.

While all these personal uses for music are very important, just think about where this world would be without music. We’d have no national anthem, no concerts, and nothing but talk radio (who would want to listen to that 24/7?) Music has the power to break the language barrier across the world. Everyone understands music, and everyone can relate to the different moods it brings about.

A Good Weekend

One of the things most important to a typical teenager’s lifestyle is those weekend plans. While spending the whole week in class, focused on getting those good grades, one cannot help but think about what fun things they will be rewarded with in the upcoming weekend. For some, a nice night in with some friends -- or even with your beloved dog -- in front of the TV watching scary movies or finishing the TV show you’re currently obsessed with is enough. But for others, one weekend might take the entire preceding week to plan; making sure that every hour of the two and half days with no school are all mapped out.

The key to having a good weekend, every weekend, is variety. Doing the same things week to week can be boring. This is why it is best to start your planning early. If you haven’t started planning by Wednesday, you’re in trouble. This may result in frantic search for plans -- or even worse -- no plans at all. In high school this is never a good thing. Even something as simple as hanging out with a family member one night counts as a plan. Other plans might include hanging out with a group of your friends by the fire; catching the latest school production; attending a concert or a movie; watching a movie at home; the list goes on. The possibilities are endless! And once a plan, or at least a general idea of what you are going to do, is in place, you can relax and focus on those thousands of tests and quizzes teachers love to give on Fridays.

Once that final bell rings on Friday, and you turn in your last test of the day, your weekend plans begin. The next thing to think about while your weekend carries on as normal is anything but school. School work is not to be done or thought about on Friday nights, or even Saturday nights. School work is meant for weeknights, or even during the day on the weekend. Spend the nights with friends, or relaxing at your house, not worrying about school. Too much stress is never good for the body, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Help to relieve that constant stress of school by focusing on other things. I mean that’s why they give us the measly two days off, right?

Weekends are meant to be a relaxing a break from school and work. Teenagers look forward to them to have fun and spend time with their friends, away from school. Rebecca Black wasn’t so wrong when she sang the words “Friday, Friday, Gotta get down on Friday. Everybody’s looking forward to the weekend.” While that song is super annoying, yet somewhat catchy, it speaks the truth. Without a good weekend planned, the entire week of school seems much longer and tougher to get through. Fun weekends are a teenager’s motivation to finish off the week strong, and relieve stress for all.

"Craft" Club

“Craft” Club: Part One

*this is all completely made up

I sat there waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. 15 minutes late, as usual. They wanted to do this club, the least they could do was show up to the art room on time once in their lives. Matt comes running in carrying all is textbooks. “Sorry I was in a quick meeting with the Math-letes, our first competition is next week!”

“Whatever’ I sigh. We are still missing 3 other people. It’s annoying how they don’t take any of this as seriously as I do. It’s my passion, and I thought it was all of theirs too. That’s why we started this club in the first place. I was missing volleyball practice for this meeting. That shows you I’m dedicated.

In walked Trina and Karl about 10 minutes later. Trina’s excuse was the classic “Sorry, I was at a cheer squad meeting. Last one of the year, promise.” Karl’s was your typical freshman excuse.

“Sorry, I was calling my mom about my ride home from school.”

“Alright well now that you’re all here, finally, we should get started.” I began, “All cell-phones in the basket.” I held out the basket until 3 phones were placed inside. I then added mine to the mix. It was always a club rule that there was no use of cell phones in the meetings. We had agreed on that rule day one. It was the best way to keep what went on in this meeting as focused and as secretive as possible. “Okay last time we were discussing what the next challenge would be. We had a list of possibilities.” I hung up the chart from the previous meeting. I read them out loud, “1) Robbery 2) Murder 3) Kidnapping.” As I read the last option, whispers erupted from the 3 members.

“Let’s do that one!” Trina exclaimed. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

“It would be the most exciting to plan out.” Karl added. “What do you think Claire?” I thought about it. Yes, it would be fun to plan out, and although the subject matter is a little dark, its not like we’d be committing the actual crime.

“I think it sounds perfect,” I replied.

We all sat down and began planning out the perfect crime. We figured out whom we’d be hypothetically kidnapping and how it would be done. It may sound kind of strange – participating in a sort of Crime Club, where we’d plan out crimes that we vowed to never actually commit – but it was something we were all fascinated in. In fact, all 4 of us hoped to one day become detectives who investigate these types of crimes for a living. Why not get a head start on learning how criminals think? We saw no harm in it. But we realized how strange it sounded, so we kept it a secret. When people asked us why we meant in the art room after school on Thursdays, we told them it was for Craft Club. People questioned it at first. Why would 4 people from completely different social circles find common interest in crafting? But eventually the questions died down and our peers left us alone.

“Okay, so we’ll just jump out while she’s on her morning run and grab her?” Matt said. “Sounds easy enough.”

“But she’s a runner obviously, so she could easily get away.” Trina made a good point. We had chosen a target; a girl who goes to the other high school and runs on the cross-country team. There were some advantages and disadvantages to this choice. We thought it would be easier because she would always be out running by herself – easy access. It would be harder though because she is in high school, meaning she is smarter than the average kidnap candidate who would be under the age of 12. We decided to use a trash bag to blind the victim and then have the inside of the bag be laced with some sort of toxin that would sedate her.

We worked out all the kinks, and after an hour of thought-provoking discussion we went home. One day I’ll be solving crimes like these, I thought to myself. I couldn’t wait to solve real cases rather than developing fake ones. Sometimes I felt guilty for planning these crimes, but I knew I would never have the heart to carry them out, so that helped me to feel at ease. If anything we were just a group of kids making up stories – stories that could later help local police departments solve cases much like the ones we created.  I saw no problem with our “craft” club. At least I used not to.

All of that changed on the following Sunday morning. I got up like I always did, and walked downstairs. It was already noon. I walked into the kitchen. “Good morning sleepy-head,” my mom greeted me. I grabbed one of the remaining pieces of bacon from the plate on the counter. As I walked to the cupboard to grab a mug and pour myself some coffee, my mom asked if I had heard the news.

“No, what news,” I replied drowsily.

“About that cross-country runner? I think she is your age. She’s gone missing. It’s just terrible. I mean just imagine how the fam—“

“Wait, she’s missing!” I interrupted her. “Who is it? Does she go to the other high school?”

“Why yes I do believe so,” my mom seemed confused as to why I was so concerned. “My understanding is that the authorities believe she was taken on her run this morning.” I froze. No, it can’t be true. My mother is probably just confused. Or maybe this is all just a big coincidence.

“Wow” is all I could say back. My thoughts were racing.

“Yeah and the only piece of evidence they found was a small part of a household garbage bag.”

My mouth fell open and my mug shattered against the floor.

TO BE CONTINUED...

True Friend

As much as we wish it was, making friends is not quite as simple as pointing out somebody in a crowd and saying, “I want you.” Maybe when we were five, that would have passed as an acceptable friendship-making technique, but as we get older, more factors come in to play. According to social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, you may have hundreds of ‘friends’ and ‘followers,’ most of whom know nothing about who you are or what you’ve been through. A true friend is not someone who can be gained with the click of a button or the pointing of a finger. True friends are your real friends. They are the kind of people you can trust with anything. They are the kind of people that will always have your back. Finding them is difficult, and once found, it is almost impossible to notice what you have until the relationship faces one defining moment that tests its strength. It takes being a true friend in return, to see the actual impact you have on each other's lives.

Real friends care for one another. Caring for somebody is more complex than just listening to what they have to say and nodding your head. Its about asking them questions, being sincere when you respond, and making listening to what they have to say of top priority. A true friend is someone you should feel comfortable telling your problems to, and you should feel confident in that they will listen intently and give the best advice they can. A true friend doesn’t sit there and listen to you talk about something in your life for 10 minutes and reply with the classic “Yeah that sucks,” or the other typical response, “Oh that’s cool.”  They always support you and help you to see the other side of the situation more clearly.

A true friend will not be afraid to tell you what you don’t want to hear, which is why they are best when you are in need of advice. Sometimes the truth hurts, but people need to hear it. And it is best to be told by a best friend rather than a stranger who may come off as sounding offensive. Hearing something as simple as “You probably shouldn’t wear that,” or “Maybe he was right” sound much better and will be taken much more seriously when coming from a good friend.

As teenagers, friends are easily the ones we are most influenced by. Although we might try and deny it, our friends opinions have a momentous impact on how we think and speak. That being said, a genuine friend should always wish the best for you and not for themselves. They need to put you first when you come to them, and you should do the same for them when they come to you for advice. Also, throughout one’s teenage years, a lot happens. Managing grades, sports, a social life, and applying to colleges all occur within such a short period of time. This is where friends play a crucial role, and are needed most. True friends can relate to one another, and know exactly how the other thinks. A trustworthy friend can help you through anything, staying loyal and honest throughout every situation.

Friends are the few people who know you for you. They shouldn’t judge what you do or say, because thats not what being friends with someone is about. People in general shouldn’t try and change who you are, especially those you consider your friends. When you are nervous about something, a common piece of advice given is just to be yourself. How can one be themselves when they are constantly expected to be someone else? That's one thing we can’t change about the world around us, but in front of our own friends, we should honestly be able to be ourselves. That’s how you know you are truly friends with someone because it is when you feel the most comfortable. You might make mistakes or mess up here and there, but a true friend will always forgive you.

A true friend is someone who is always there for you. A true friend is someone who is always loyal, honest and trustworthy. A true friend cannot be defined by a number on your friend or follower counts on social media sites. A true friend is not necessarily a label. It is a characteristic; a trait that somebody possesses showing you everyday that they are keeping your best interest in mind.

Being Neighborly

Learning to adjust to different types of people is somewhat of an artform one must master throughout their lifetime. We find ways to get along with family members, classmates, and strangers. Even with this large variety of people, it can still be challenging to find ways to deal with certain types. Neighbors, in particular, can be either blessing or a curse. Ranging from being cordial, to controlling, to just all around creepy, they are among the few from which you cannot escape.

Without a doubt, cordial neighbors are the best neighbors. They are the type of people that you would feel safe living next to, and might ask to house sit while you’re away. They are very reliable, meaning you can go to them for anything. Let’s say you are missing a key ingredient to your famous key lime pie. What do you do? Head on over to your neighbor’s house. They are sure to help out without you having to ask them twice.

Controlling neighbors are by far the most annoying type. They are always trying to persuade you to do things their way, for that is the “only way”. Nothing is ever good enough for them. They continue to make rude comments towards your home, and lifestyle. For example, a woman living in the house next door to me would call to have us get our toys out of the front yard, claiming they “looked ugly”. Also, if one of my family’s dogs wandered over to her yard, she threatened to call the police. Neighbors like that are what make farm life seem that much more appealing.

The most uncomfortable neighbors to encounter are those of the creepy nature. The phrase “Mind your own business” means nothing to them. They are always showing up unexpectedly and uninvited. If you’ve ever gotten the feeling that you are being watched, or are trying to decide whether your neighbor is diagnosed with a case of the “creepies”, proceed to the window nearest their house. If there is a person staring back at you, call your realtor right away. These people are not the kind you would want to find yourself surrounded by, literally.

Being neighborly is seen as a simple task, one that should come naturally to most people. But when living in a typical American suburb, one finds that this is not the case. People have minds of their own, and are not as considerate to each others property as one might hope. Categorizing the types of neighbors you have may help cope with their strange tendencies, and help you to live a more pleasant lifestyle.

Living Without Cable

Cable television and its effects on the national population are far greater than I can express in one essay. But let’s just say that the effects are huge. On the national population, that is. In my life, cable TV has almost no impact. I have never lived in a house where we had cable. When I was younger, I had no idea there were more channels out there aside from the usual network stations. A Saturday morning cartoon for me would consist of the classic PBS Kids shows such as “Cyber Chase” or “Arthur.” For me, these were enough. One day my sister and I were going to spend the night at my grandma’s. We get there in the evening and when I walked through the door I saw cartoons playing on the TV. Cartoons!? At night!? This seemed unreal to me. Its not even Saturday morning! I sat down and watched them all evening, enjoying every second. Looking back, I was a little bit too excited about these cartoons.

I later learned that this magical channel that was playing these cartoons was called Cartoon Network. I learned of other channels too. I discovered it was a common thing in most people’s homes. But not mine. I often wondered why my family had never bothered to install all of these magnificent channels. Who wouldn’t want thousands of shows available to you in your own home? Only then did I realize it costs extra money. Cable and satellite companies -- Directv, Time Warner, or Dish Network -- all cost an upwards of $80 per month, not to mention installation costs. “The cost outweighs the benefits,” my parents would always tell me. They were right.

In this day and age, technology has reached an all new level of accessibility and just use in general. Mobile phones, laptops, tablets, you name it and I can almost guarantee there is a way to watch videos. This being said, paying extra money for cable television is irrational when you can find and watch all TV episodes or movies online. You can find the current scores to a sporting event with the click of a button -- a tap of a finger. Netflix, an online video streaming company, allows access to thousands of TV shows and movies for a monthly fee that is under $10! There are many alternatives to cable, some of which may not cover all the capabilities of a little black box under the TV, or a satellite on the roof, but they sure do come close.

Life without cable has allowed me to become more productive. Maybe not so much with school work--procrastination on that particular area is inevitable--but on other things such as cleaning my room or even talking to my family.  I almost like being one of the few households without all the TV channels. People seem amazed when I tell them I don’t have cable, and that fascinates me because I always ask myself why I would need it. I don't find myself wanting cable or missing all these channels everyone else has. I am content with only having the network channels, and of course Netflix.

Social media helps me to keep up on things I might be missing with cable TV. When the season premier or the season finale of a popular show airs, it is simple to just look on Twitter and find out what’s happening at that very moment in the show. So basically, I am never out of the loop!

Not having cable has been something unique about my life ever since I was born. It seems silly, considering the fact of not having cable to be a defining characteristic. But in this modern society, it is rare. It’s as if my family and I have conquered the pressure to purchase the little black box. It has effected my life quite a bit, more than a materialistic thing such as this would. My Saturday morning cartoon memories will always be different than the other kids, and I don’t see a problem with that at all.

Procrastinating Effectively

It is 5 pm. I’ve just walked in from volleyball practice and am thrilled to look at the clock and see how much time I have for homework. I’ll be in bed by 10, I think to myself, this shouldn’t be too difficult. I shower, and then sit down at my desk and start at around 5:30. I grab my physics folder and begin the endless measurements and calculations necessary to find the direction a random boat is travelling and at what angle. My thoughts while doing this range from, “Why does any of this matter?”, to “I wonder what’s going to be for dinner.” I continue on with the homework, and let's be honest, I have no idea what I am doing. Eventually I feel as though I am just drawing random lines and just begin to estimate on the measurements. Eh, close enough, I think to myself.

Because I did such a wonderful job on my physics homework, I reward myself with a little Twitter and maybe a few levels on Candy Crush. That saying, “Time flies when you’re having fun,” also applies to “Time flies when you’re trying to do anything but homework.” By the time I was finished looking at my phone, it was about 6:30, and I still had about 5 assignments left to do. Oh no, I thought to myself as I practically threw my phone across the room, I need to focus.

I pull out my AP Stats binder and do some practice questions. Finding and interpreting the value of ‘r’ can be so repetitive and boring. My mind wanders to anything but my homework, Maybe music will help, I thought. Procrastination is most effective when one plays songs they know the words to. I turn all of my Pandora stations on shuffle and before I know it I am jamming out to the best variety of songs. Eventually, one of those obnoxious, moment-ruining commercials comes on and I look at the time. 7:15. Shoot.

I switch subjects, Psh, stats homework is optional anyway, I tell myself, Priorities, right? At this point I’ll convince myself of anything to get my work done faster. Time for the weekly English terminology. I start on one of the first assigned words. Diction. Hmm, diction, diction, dict--di, din, dinner! Suddenly, I come to a realization. I haven’t eaten dinner! As if on cue, my dad calls from the kitchen.

“Greta, dinner is ready!”

“Okay Dad, be there in a second!” I close my folder and race to the kitchen. I’ll take anything to get me away from that desk. Dinner consists of delicious chicken my dad cooked, and a lot of conversation. By the time we finish eating and do the dishes, it is definitely somewhere around 8 o’clock.

“Well,” I say to my parents, “I still have about 70 percent of my homework left to do.” They tell me to get crackin and shout words of encouragement at me as I race back to my room. Greta, do not check your phone. Don’t do it. I tell myself over and over again. You’ll just get more distracted and you’ll never finish your homework. I sit down at my desk. Oh, but what if there is a message that’s really important, or maybe a schoology notification! And now I’ve talked myself into it. I grab my phone thats on the opposite side of the room from my desk due to my previous attempt at trying to focus. I sit there for what must be a half-hour, doing absolutely nothing that is helping me with homework. Twitter is always way more interesting when there’s other work to be done. And you know you’re procrastinating when you check Facebook more than 3 times in than 10 minutes.  Facebook!? Really?

Anyways, by now it is definitely nearing 9 pm and I am nowhere near where I should be in terms of the amount of homework I need to finish. I pick up my AP European textbook and skim the assigned reading. I justify this by telling myself there won’t be a reading quiz and that I’ll be fine not knowing the material. Next is precalc, where I do about half the problems, not really having any clue if they’re right, and save the rest for study hall. That was quick. Its nearing 10, and I still have a few tests to study for. No biggie, I got this, I tell myself.

Accepting the fact that I will in no way be in bed by 10, I start to push the goal back. First to 10:30, then to 11. Before you know it, I am now shooting to be in bed by midnight, if I’m lucky. I study my Macro notes as well as I can. The little focus I had has now deteriorated to almost nothing. I’m reading the words on the page, but my mind is somewhere else. My eyes start to get heavy, and I close my notes and get ready for bed. No sense in studying while tired because honestly, how much can that really help you? I look at the clock. 12:10. Not bad, I think to myself, and I shut my eyes preparing to do it again tomorrow.

In order to procrastinate effectively, you must have the mentality that there is way more time available to you. In other words, always overestimate how much time you actually do have. It is never necessary to know what the actual time is, because while procrastinating, time is endless. Only once you get back to work does time seem to matter. Justifying every move you make is essential to the perfect procrastination technique. Try play some great music you know the words to. Or maybe even just stare at wall. It is different for everybody!  In order to perform this technique the best, you need to have a purpose for each thing you do. Talking yourself into it is definitely the best route to take. It helps to make it seem as if taking a little break--that may turn into a long break--is okay. With a little practice, procrastination is easy and can be mastered by any high school student, with little to no effort!