By Bette Scher || Contributing Writer
Before we knew it, school has started again. We are back to a routine of Easy Mac, all nighters, and the looming knowledge that every year passing in college is a year closer to the rest of our lives. The world around us demands so much, whether that be our professors who assign hours of readings to prepare for class or our friends who push us to go out every weekend.
Keeping up with social media is exhausting too. Snapchat reminds us that our lives aren’t nearly as interesting as those who we befriend. Instagram reminds us the need to keep up the aesthetic. We have become so speculative of our news, we don’t even know what is true anymore. There are few sources of reliable news, that fact in itself is inherently exhausting.
In the midst of this overstimulation of the senses, I challenge the students of Franklin and Marshall to take a step back. Whether that be for five minutes or five seconds, step back and decompress from our lives that demand so much of us. If decompressing means meditation for some, great. If it means hiding under a blanket and watching netflix for others, that’s great too.
Music, though, has the power not only to relieve stress but to inspire us to work harder and be better versions of ourselves. In this aspiration, I have attached 15 songs to get you through the week. I hope this will become a weekly column, though I make no promises. My life, like yours, demands a lot from me too. Here, there is “Mr. Brightside” to make us sing obnoxiously in public, which can be completely cathartic. There is A Tribe Called Quest to make us appreciate beats and groove. There is Anderson .Paak, because who doesn’t love him? I hope this will help you deal with the demands of your week, maybe even finding some cool music along the way.
Stay classy, stay relaxed, and have fun at Fall Fest!
https://open.spotify.com/user/bette__scher/playlist/4nJk6jkycgY7g6r8LDwvF0
First-Year Bette Scher is a contributing writer. Her email is bscher@fandm.edu.