We’ve all seen everyone around campus with their headphones in, headed off to their next class or meeting or meal. Music makes the walk (or ride if you’re somebody that bikes or skateboards around campus) seem faster, unless you’ve got somebody to walk with.

Recently I thought of the college experience and related it with music and came up with this: The College Experience Playlist.

1. “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” Backstreet Boys:“Backstreet’s back ALRIGHT!” Everybody’s back on campus and the summer of separation has ended for you and your crew. If you’re new to campus, you’re going to find your crew. But, as the song goes, everybody’s back and it’s a party until classes start.
   
2. “It’s Raining Men,” The Weather Girls:"It's raining men, hallelujah!" Ladies, gentlemen, college is where it’s “raining men” -- or women (Hallelujah!). There are so many more options for who to date than there were in your high school it’s almost daunting.
   
3. “Friends,” Whodini:“Friends, how many of us have them?” This song literally goes through the dictionary definition of the word as well as every type of friend you will encounter in a catchy 90's hip-hop tune. You’ll have friends that just want to use you and ones that are really there for you, so pick your friends wisely.
   
4. “I’d Love to Change the World,” Jetta:“I’d love to change the world, but I don’t know what to do.” We all want to leave our mark on the world, we all want to change it in some way. With college itself being a handful, you might not know how to change the world. You see all the organizations that deal with leadership and volunteering and climate change on campus. The first step to figuring out what to do is finding what you like to do and changing the world that way. Don’t just leave it up to someone else.
   
5. “Hide And Seek,” Imogen Heap:“Where are we? What the heck is going on?” You have an early class. This song is exactly how you are feeling when you wake up for that early class or early pre-class work shift. It's got a sort of fuzzy sound to it and a sort of dreamlike vibe through the tempo and auto-tuning that makes one wonder if they’re really awake or not.
   
6. “Get’ch Head in the Game” the cast of "High School Musical":“Gotta get’cha get’cha get’cha get’cha head in the game!” Wake up! You’re supposed to be in class, paying attention to the business model or how to be a teacher, or general liberal arts notes. Even though you’re so tired, you’ve got to get your head in the game -- the academic game.
   
7. “’Till I Collapse,” Eminem:“’Cause sometimes you just feel tired, feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up. But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength.” You are mentally and physically exhausted, and, of course, campus is the hilliest and windiest place on earth. You feel like you’re legs are going to give out as you pump the pedals of your bike. People are everywhere, watching you, but you will get up that hill. Eminem’s wise words of encouragement will push you to the top. You will succeed in biking across campus even though you are wheezing and pedaling super slowly.
   
8. “We Are The Champions,” Queen:“We are the champions, my friends.” You’ve waited for a long time for this and now you and your friends have gained enough people for an intramural sport of your choice. It wasn’t easy (especially getting everybody organized and committed) but now you’re daydreaming of the Intramural Championship and celebrating the win with Queen’s iconic track playing in the background.
   
9. “Everybody’s Got Somebody But Me,” Hunter Hayes:“I’d love to take a pin to a heart shaped balloon, everybody’s got somebody but me.” As the academic year rolls on you start noticing how many relationships there are on campus and how a lot of your friends are dating. Expect you, you've had no such luck. So (in my experience) you just get revolted with it while secretly you’re hoping you’ll run into your own somebody on campus. And then you reach a point where you just don't care anymore. You are your own independent person.
   
10. “Something Stupid,” Michael Bublé and Reese Witherspoon:“I practice every day to find some clever lines to say” You’ve developed a crush on campus and every time you see them you don’t know what to do with yourself. And when you don’t see them or aren't hanging out with them (and your friend group, because you don't have the courage to hang out with them alone) you’re probably thinking of something clever to say or do to get them interested. But then again, you think you’ll say something stupid. Or you did say something stupid and you're thinking that you've ruined it all.
    
11. “Budapest,” George Ezra:“My acres of a land, that I’ve achieved.” Even though you love it at your college, you want to see the rest of the world, so you check in with the Study Abroad office. This song is a nice reminder of that because it talks of all the traveled lands and all the collected artifacts this person has gained which kind of comes with the traveling territory.
    
12. “College Kids,” Relient K:“Someone please save us, us college kids.” It’s the point in the semester when you’re questioning why you came to college. The song literally says, “I’m poor, I’m staring, I’m flat broke, I’ve got no cash to spend,” which is totally true. It even points out how you basically pumping in a bunch of money to just show up for tests (which are really the only reason to show up to class for most LACs).
    
13. “Dirty Work,” Austin Mahone: This one’s a two part-er. “You know it ain’t no 9 to 5, we’re going sundown to sunrise.” This is when you have to roll up them sleeves and get to work on that coursework. It’s not going to do itself and there are no set hours to being a student, which means there will be a lot of late nights and all-nighters. The second part is doing what you love. If you’re in a major or field that you love, awesome, the work won’t be so awful and if you love what you’re doing it won’t feel like it’s work. “Cause when you do what you love, you’re gonna love what you do.”
    
14. “Alphabet Aerobics,” Blackalicious:“Now it’s time for our wrap up. Let’s give it everything we’ve got.” All your late nights studying has led up to this, this word vomit that you spew onto your test or in your verbal exams. I chose this song because it starts off where you can kind of follow along, rap along with it. Then it picks up (just like the semester does) and you are constantly trying to get back in the swing of things, yet something trips you up. **I also attempted to rap this and got to the letter k. “Kindly I’m kindling all kinds of ink on” was the lyric I got tripped up on and really lost it.
    
15. “Make It Up As You Go,” Plain White T’s:“Make it up as you go.” This is when you reach the point of the test where your word vomit has run out or you forgot about this test when you were studying for your other test, so the best option is to make it up as you go. Because something you put down is bound to be correct.
    
16. “Bye Bye Bye,” *NSYNC:“You many hate me but it ain’t no lie, baby bye bye bye.” You’ll always have people that you just won’t click with. You may run into them on campus or you’ll have some friends that you thought were chill but you reach a breaking point with them. Either way, you’re trying your best to steer clear and when you do meet with them, all you really want to say is “Bye bye bye.”
    
17. “Five O’Clock Somewhere,” Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett:“It’s only half-past 12 but I don’t care. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.” There will be days that drag on forever and on these days it’s best to take a break. Some people may go out for a drink after class. I found this song to be perfect because the school day can drag on just like the work day (especially if your schedule is crazy).
    
18. “Man In The Mirror” Michael Jackson:“If you want to make the world a better place than look at yourself and you make a change.” As you get further into the school year, you may figure out how you want to change the world. With the support of your friends and the help of groups on campus, you can make a difference. But this song points out that you have to be the one to initiate the change within yourself to be able to change others (or other’s situations). It’s like how they say you have to be able to love yourself before you can fully love others.
    
19. “Hallelujah,” Panic! At The Disco: “All you sinners stand up, sing hallelujah!” Hallelujah, praise Jesus! You made it to the weekend! Despite being a rough week, you have to admit there were some good moments. This song, even though it’s got a little bit of a church-y vibe, still rocks. It’s one someone could definitely jam to in celebration that it’s the weekend.
    
20. “The Doors Sing 'Reading Rainbow,'" Jimmy Fallon:“Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high.” Jimmy Fallon did an impression of the Doors singing the classic "Reading Rainbow" theme song. And instead of doing your coursework, you’ll spend the weekend either watching regular Netflix (like movies and TV that you need to catch up on) or you’ll be reliving your childhood by watching shows like "Bill Nye the Science Guy" or "Reading Rainbow."
    
21. “#SundayFunday,” MAGIC!:“Another manic Monday, praying for the week to go by.” As much as you had fun wasting your weekend away doing fun things, the week begins again. This song nails it on the head how we all have to make money, how we’re all tired, and how we don’t want to work. So make your Sundays fun days.
    
22. “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs,” Fall Out Boy: “One night and one more time, thanks for the memories.” They always say high school is the best time of your life. They’re wrong. College is where the best memories come from. You get to meet so many people and explore new things. Granted, we’re paying to learn and have classes, but it’s still a wonderful experience. So, make sure to thank your friends for the memories, you’re going to miss the memories once you hit the real world.
    
23. “Remember the Name,” Fort Minor:“This is 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain, and 100% reason to remember the name!” Now, this is the "scientific formula" for success. Wherever you end up after college, they will remember the name.