Surviving College, One Playlist at a Time
If you’re going to make it out with a degree, you’re going to need the right music.
By Katie Sanchez, University of Texas at San Antonio
Being a college student means multitasking, exploring different interests and feeling various emotions.
Not only do students need to tackle their classes, but they also need to keep up with their social life, take trips to the gym and much more. Since college is a rollercoaster ride full of different emotions and experiences, why not have playlists that will support and encourage students through the good, bad and ugly?
If you’re a college student, here are the seven playlists you need to create to make it through the semester.
1. Stressed/Frustrated
Without a doubt, college students are destined to feel stressed out and frustrated for various reasons. Professor won’t listen to you? Have two tests tomorrow that you haven’t studied for because of the paper that was due today? Don’t have enough money for rent? Instead of punching a wall or yelling at your roommate for no reason, listen to a playlist that will allow you to calm down in the most peaceful way possible.
Release your negative emotions with “Rage the Night Away” by Steve Aoki, “Until the End” by Breaking Benjamin and “Worth Dying For” by Rise Against.
2. Happy
Even though college is overwhelming, there will be times where you will feel great joy. Whether it be that you aced a test you thought you were going to fail, or you had so much fun hanging out with some friends you haven’t seen in awhile, you’ll need a playlist that will lift you even higher and make you feel euphoric.
On the other hand, your happy playlist can also bring you up when you’re feeling down. Everything seems like it’s going downhill? Turn up your joyful tunes to turn that frown upside down. College brings about more than enough negative emotions, so you need to make sure you have enough positive vibes to keep you going.
I recommend having “Avalanche” by Walk the Moon, “Feel Again” by OneRepublic and “Hurts Like Heaven” by Coldplay on your happy playlist.
3. Confident
In addition to good vibes, you’ll need a bold playlist that will turn you into a strutting, head-held-high student who cannot be stopped. Getting ready for the day? Have a test soon? Need a confidence booster? No problem.
A confidence playlist is extremely necessary because you will feel on top of the world even if it’s falling apart due to the stress of college. When you feel confident, you’ll be fearless, which is a great attitude to have because you’ll be able to accomplish so many tasks: From your homework to your appearance, you’ll slay.
This playlist will encourage you to talk to your cute classmate that you’ve noticed since the first day of class, take a fun risk that you’ve been contemplating for weeks and embrace your natural beauty, despite what your inner demons think.
Though different people feel confident with various genres, a few songs that will get you in that cheeky mood are “Bubblegum Bitch” by Marina & The Diamonds, “Hell of a Night” by Schoolboy Q and “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga.
4. Sad/Lonely/Heartache
Though you have your confidence playlist, there will be many times when you feel like the world is on your shoulders and nothing is possible. Moments like these cause you to believe that all you need is a long cry by yourself in your room with your bed sheets hugging you. Whenever you feel like this, allow music to be your comforting best friend. You don’t need to explain anything to anyone, so you won’t need to worry about finding words to explain your situation.
Whether it be because of someone broke your heart, you miss your loved ones or you failed a test you swore you were going to pass, it’s always good to let your feelings out. Never hold in your emotions, because doing so is bad for your health—especially if that emotion is sadness. Always remember, crying doesn’t make you weak; it just means you’re human, so don’t worry if you need a good cry every now and then, you’re just being human.
Songs like “Iridescent” by Linkin Park, “You There” by Aquilo and “Moments” by One Direction allows those tears to fall down easily.
5. Work Out
With this playlist, the only tears that’ll be falling will be in the form of sweat. The days that you actually make time for your college’s recreation center calls for an epic playlist. Whenever you go work out, you need to be pumped so you can get the most from your routine. Don’t worry about having multiple playlists for working out. In fact, I encourage you to have just one, because songs have different tempos, so that means that the pace you’re going can alter with the beat of your music. With that being said, the songs that you put on your playlist need to ones that will get you turnt and keep you going strong.
Songs such as “The Phoenix” by Fall Out Boy, “Stronger” by Kanye West and “‘Till I Collapse” by Eminem will definitely get you pumped.
6. Studying/Focused
When it comes down to studying, you don’t want to listen to songs that have lyrics in them because they’ll distract you from your studies. Therefore, you need to listen to instrumental, ASMR (with no talking) and nature sounds to ensure a passing grade. Music without words allows you to focus more on the material you need to learn and retain the information better.
Chances are that you’ll be listening to this playlist every time you hit the books, so make sure you have plenty of songs on your playlists. Just make sure you don’t fall asleep, as some of these songs can make you feel drowsy.
Some songs that will help you stay on track are “Rain 8 hours…” by Tomoki BGM ViluReef Group, “ASMR 3Dio Microphone Ear Brushing” by ASMRMagic and “Harry in Winter” by Patrick Doyle.
7. Dance
No matter which emotion you are feeling, dancing will always help you feel better. You can dance with a group of people or alone in your dorm room with your earphones blasting in your ears. Either way, dancing gets you moving, which makes you feel more awake and alert. If you allow yourself to get lost in your moves, then you can escape the emotions that you currently are feeling and indulge in your dancing party.
A few songs that you should have on your epic dance playlist are “Spectrum” by Zedd, “Won’t Stop Rocking” by R3hab & Headhunterz and “Now that I’ve Found You” by Martin Garrix.
