For the uninitiated, Hamilton is a record breaking hip-hop/R&B/ rap musical created, written and starred in by Lin Manuel Miranda. "Hamilton: An American Musical" tells the inspiring story of immigrant and founding father Alexander Hamilton as he attempts to build a legacy that will outlive him. While the historical value of this musical is awe-inspiring, what really made this cast album a global phenomenon and a chart topping record is how beyond the politics is a young man chasing his dreams. The poignant lyrics matched with incredible music eliminates the space between Broadway and the audience. Hamilton draws on the humanity in all of us causing us to laugh, cry and inquire about not only our nation's creation but ourselves as individuals.

While the youth “fandom” or obsession with Hamilton may be difficult to understand and I hope to guide you as to how I truly believe Hamilton makes me believe in myself and my ability to enter college. Hamilton’s dramatic entrance features him saying “Alexander Hamilton/My name is Alexander Hamilton/ and there’s a million things I haven’t done/ Just you wait, just you wait.” If that doesn’t encapsulate the blind ambition of young students across America, then absolutely nothing does. Later in a song titled, “My Shot” Hamilton attempting to impress his newly found revolutionary comrades as he explains “I’m ‘a get a scholarship to King’s College/I prob’ly shouldn’t brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish/The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish/I gotta holler just to be heard/With every word, I drop knowledge!/I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal/Tryin’ to reach my goal. My power of speech:unimpeachable/Only nineteen but my mind is older." Once again, the personable grittiness and desire that Hamilton emits as a young college student just trying to make it in the world is more universal than the concept of the play presents. Throughout the musical Hamilton’s dogmatic and witty sarcasm and sass adds quite a bit of comic relief and hilarity to rather tragic tale about our founding father who died too soon.

At the same time someone just as inspiring stands beside Hamilton; Eliza Schuyler Hamilton. She stands in history as the woman who rebuilt Alexander’s legacy. Both personally and in the eyes of history she was an extremely strong and independent woman especially considering the time in which she lived. One of my favorite examples of her strength is after the infamous Reynolds pamphlet is published revealing that Hamilton has been cheating on Eliza. She addresses him with a scary-calm lividity and tells him, “You forfeit all rights to my heart/You forfeit the place in our bed/You sleep in your office instead/With only the memories/Of when you were mine/I hope that you burn.” Not only does Eliza kick Hamilton into the next room (which is about as far as you could kick a man back then), she stands with a feminine strength that truly empowers me as women in a world where I have rights that Eliza dreamed of having. Finally one of the most beautiful, tear-jerking and stunning moments of the musical happens in the final number of the musical, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” in which it is revealed that Eliza is the one who constructs Alexander’s legacy after he dies in a duel with Sen. Aaron Burr. Eliza “interviews every soldier who fought by [his] side," she “[tries] to make sense of [his] thousands of pages of writing]”; She even raises money for the Washington Monument and speaks out against slavery. However, most poetically she “established the first private orphanage in New York City” and helps orphans just like her Alexander.

I could probably write a master's thesis about the value of every single character and the insane genius that is Lin Manuel Miranda. I could write about the

inspiration and brilliance in having a minority-dominated cast and the impact that has on people everywhere. My point in all of this is to explain how "Hamilton Hysteria" is not just me rapping about our national debt plan in my kitchen (even though that happens daily), it’s about how this musical works because it connects to a universal struggle of America's youth. Hamilton (and a lot of the cast) stands as inspirations not only historically but because of the humanity and personalities the music brings to them. For goodness sake Hamilton wrote 51 essays in six months. And if he can do that, then I know I can get through college.