From a very early age, I remember how inspiring it felt to listen to my favorite song. My parents would turn on music to everything and in turn everything would become calm.

It started back in the early 2000's. My family would turn on anything from Disney music to Led Zeppelin to Brittany Spears to Beastie Boys. The possibilities with music were endless. I would, and still, use music to represent how I am feeling at every moment.

Every so often my grandparents would bring me to musicals and Broadway shows. This showed me a whole new side of music that I had never seen before. These shows immediately sparked an interest in me.

Happy songs began to brighten up my day when I am in a good mood, and sad songs make me realize I am not alone. Every situation I have been through there has been a specific set of songs that I can relate to. I was and am still convinced music can only affect me positively.

As I grew older I still would listen to the music I knew and loved, however, I began searching endlessly for the newest song. The words would speak to me and the rhythm would back up the emotions of every lyric.

Around this time, I began taking vocal and piano lessons while my brother took drum lessons; I was around eleven at the time. My instructor and I would meet every week to practice while discussing the history of music. I looked forward to going every Sunday at eleven in the morning to remember how important music is to me.

A few years later my family moved states away from all of my close family and friends. I felt so alone for the first time. At thirteen years old I felt like an outcast at my new school.

I stopped taking lessons; my brother continued. I started to play sports to fill my time. Music would come into play here to hype me up for a game or cheer me up over a tough loss.

Although I enjoyed the activities I was involved in at the time I knew something was missing, and as my junior year of high school hit I got back into music again. I became a part of a band, and it was the best decision I had made in a while. Everything became easier. I began to be a happier version of myself again.

I again, began to find every new song out there, anything I could get my hands on. I started buying vinyl and writing songs. I started to attend concerts monthly and would sing anywhere I went.

This is the attitude I had when I entered college. Although college was a doozy, with music by my side I remained feeling normal. College is a hard time for nearly everyone; music made it slightly easier for me. I began making friends with similar music tastes. We would listen to music as well as show each other new music on a daily basis. This made me feel better about my rough transition into college.

Fast forward to now, music remains a huge factor of my happiness. It has taught me so much about myself and has brought numerous amazing people into my life.

I want to say thank you to every artist and every band that has created music that has helped me through the good times and the bad.