Put Your Records On
When I was younger, I couldn’t understand why people loved music so much. The only songs I listened to were the ones playing on the radio, sandwiched between ads and sunrises on the drive to school. I didn’t understand the people who followed bands religiously or my friends who made earbuds a permanent part of their outfit. Back then, as a mere middle schooler, my biggest concerns were finishing science reports on time and thinking of what I would pack for lunch the next day. Sure, those three years weren’t without their own hard times—there were days that I stayed up until 3 a.m. to get a book report done, argued with my parents, worried about everything going wrong in my 12-year-old life (which was to say, not too much). I was a whole lot less competent at dealing with difficulties back then, but the problems I faced could hardly count as real difficulties. As I got older, my once easily-conquered hurdles grew taller. That middle school science report turned into a high school b...