Middle school sucked. But middle school is also where I learned what I liked. Middle school is when I first started catching a glimpse of what growing up was going to be like.

It is where I learned that you’re not going to like everybody, not everybody is going to like you, adults let you down and even worse, you find out friends let you down too.

With that being said, everyone was super angsty in middle school. So, unsurprisingly, I found myself listening to the angstiest music I could find without the massive amounts of screaming or how loud alternative music was.

So, that is when I started to exclusively listen to pop-punk bands.

Pop punk just had a way of making me feel like I belonged.

It made me feel something and still does to this day.

In my room I would listen to Blink 182, All Time Low, Man Overboard and the Wonder Years.

I would dance around my room at 3 am in middle school to All Time Low singing “Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t.)”

In high school, my boyfriend and I’s song was “Septemberism” by Man Overboard.

Jimmy Eat World's discography is what I listen to in the car daily.

When I heard the Wonder Years song “I Just Wanna Sell Out My Funeral” I cried because it was something I truly related to.

Pop punk has always made sense.

There is plenty of angst and grit and unhappiness but with the easy listening of pop music.

Even when I hated the world, I still loved it because the music was all about that. It reminded me that I was allowed to be pissed, be angry but to also look forward to the next day.

Dan Campbell of The Wonder Years said it best,

“There's a reason we all listen to punk rock instead of top 40. There's a reason I'd rather be stage diving than at a bar. I think that most everyone I know involved in punk or hardcore is intrinsically fucked up on some level. There is something wrong with us. Maybe not "wrong", but certainly different. Because of this, I think we all share a similar outlook and because of that, we share similar experiences. I'm just writing songs about my life, but as it turns out, my life is pretty similar to a lot of other people's lives and honestly, it feels good to know we're going through this shit together.”

That right there is why I still love this music.

It is relatable.

There is some kind of magic in the music you listened to when you were 12 or 13.

And unlike Myspace (where I found all this music), pop punk has never truly gone away.

The bands I loved in middle school are still touring today and putting out new music. The revival of pop-punk is a myth because it never died.

The feelings from this music and the lessons I learned are forever.

Or maybe it is just my teenage angst clinging to me.

Nevertheless, when I listened to my pop-punk jams in middle school their lyrics would be all across my laptop and walls.

Now, they are earnest, they are honest and they are more relatable than ever as I grow up and experience actual hardship, loss and love.

Overall, pop-punk music has a unique way of making people feel universally accepted.

It has a sense of fantasy and gives us the ability to escape our lives for a few minutes through music.

Feeling like you don’t belong or like you don’t want to grow up or like you can’t persevere is universal and timeless.

We have all felt that way before, and pop-punk is debatably one of the only types of music that can tap into those emotions.

Pop-punk reigns as my all time favorite genre of music because it makes people feel secure and accepted.

So even though I am no longer 13 listening to my iPod nano I will continue to listen to pop-punk music.

I will still jam out to “Check Yes Juliet” by We The Kings when I get ready for work, I will still dance to “Dance, Dance” by Fall Out Boy pregaming before parties and of course listen to “The Best Of Me” by The Starting Line when I just want to feel all the love.