By Rhea Kapur (VI) & Monica Chan (VI) We\u2019ve reached that dreaded first semester of senior year. While our lives seem to be drowning in the realization that we have no idea who we are (but are expected to tell colleges exactly who we are), it is difficult yet even more necessary to find solace in daily comforts. The one constant comfort, besides the shared empathy of our fellow 21\u2019ers and teachers, is music. We bring you a joint music column to share our college application playlists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monica:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \tWhen looking to get inspired to write my college essays, I like listening to songs with heavy background instrumentals and introspective lyrics. My first song is \u201cWhen You Come Home\u201d by Rich Brian. This song is written from a parent\u2019s perspective, \u201cSo one day, if you find your way, I\u2019ll be waiting for you . . . I got all these questions to ask but I’ll save them for when you come home.\u201d My parents have always been the most present people in my life, and so writing college applications is surreal not only for the reason that I am embarking on the next chapter of my life, but also the realization that my parents will have to watch me from afar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My next song choice is \u201cStreetcar\u201d by Daniel Caesar. This song was originally written by Kanye West, but I prefer the slower and more melodic version by Caesar. One of the most difficult parts of the application season for me is grappling with a sense of finality. We\u2019ve prepared our entire high school lives for this time, \u201cLet me know, do I still got time to grow? Things ain’t always set in stone, that be known let me know . . . see I know my destination, but I\u2019m just not there.\u201d At this in-between teenager and adult age, we\u2019re beginning to forge our own futures while trying to understand who we are; these events happening simultaneously make it all the more difficult. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNights\u201d by Frank Ocean is a slight wildcard. The first time I heard this song I was sitting in the backseat of my friend\u2019s car on the way to someone\u2019s house and we were on Route 287 when someone said, \u201cWait for that beat drop . . .\u201d There was something magical about it being nighttime and zooming down at (legal) highway speeds surrounded by the laughter and company of my friends that I find relatively comforting reflecting on now. Maybe it\u2019s because we can\u2019t hang out with the same liberty we used to have, and those memories are all the more precious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rhea:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \tWhen I write, I focus on flow. I study how each sentence glides into the next, I listen to the melody two words sing when side by side, and I observe how each thought fits with every other to form a whole, defined piece. I like to think that how I approach the art of writing \u2013 my style <\/em>\u2013 tells just as much of a story as the words do themselves. For me, when it comes to college essays, that\u2019s generally \u201cin media res\u201d storytelling to start, then half stream-of-consciousness reflection, half punchy declaratives. Recently, I\u2019ve designated Spotify\u2019s \u201cNightstorms\u201d playlist as the soundtrack to my late-night writing sessions. It features recordings of every type of rainstorm imaginable, and in nearly every possible setting; there\u2019s \u201cThunderstorm in the Cabin,\u201d \u201cMonsoon Storm,\u201d \u201cLightning Strikes at the Farm,\u201d and even \u201cOregon Rain.\u201d The storms lift me out of the scramble that is everyday life, offering an escape from the minutia and creating the perfect, focused environment for essay writing. I\u2019m fascinated by how different they sound across the world; Indonesian rainstorms are thundering, intense, incessant downpour, while Swedish ones gently patter along, each large droplet claiming its own, distinctive splash. Every storm tells its own story. And they remind me, too, to write my<\/em> own stories \u2013 to lift my admissions reader into a faraway land where the lighting strikes and little details I craft make all the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \tMonica mentioned introspection, and I agree; it\u2019s an essential part of the essay writing process. I turn to Lana Del Rey for inspiration in this regard. As an artist, she is intimately comfortable with herself, with natural, human uncertainty. In \u201cBorn to Die,\u201d she sings: \u201cSometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough \u2013 I don\u2019t know why.\u201d In \u201cFreak,\u201d it\u2019s \u201cLooking back, my past, it all seems stranger than a stranger.\u201d Seniors, who can\u2019t relate to that one!? Del Rey\u2019s voice brims with feeling; listen to how she sings \u201cGround control to Major Tom, can you hear me all night long?\u201d in \u201cTerrence Loves You.\u201d Her songs build slowly to a close, a finish that is not always final. I see them as the embodiment of a dream \u2013 an imperfect, messy, wonderful<\/em> subconscious world. It\u2019s exactly where I find myself when brainstorming. At times, I\u2019m in the lows, forehead against the cool countertop, reminding myself that, like Del Rey, it is okay<\/em> \u2013 good, even \u2013 not to know, not to be okay. At others, my fingers fly across the keys to keep up with my thoughts, chasing the high of the dream and the height of introspection. Lana Del Ray is<\/em> every end of the spectrum; seniors, it\u2019s okay for us to be, too. By Rhea Kapur (VI) & Monica Chan (VI) We\u2019ve reached that dreaded first semester of senior year. While our lives seem to be drowning in the realization that we have no idea who we are (but are expected to tell colleges exactly who we are), it is difficult yet even more necessary to find solace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,208,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-monica","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.pingry.org\/record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.pingry.org\/record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.pingry.org\/record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.pingry.org\/record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.pingry.org\/record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3802"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/students.pingry.org\/record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3816,"href":"https:\/\/students.pingry.org\/record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3802\/revisions\/3816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.pingry.org\/record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.pingry.org\/record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.pingry.org\/record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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