On September 18, 2018, a couple hundred students and I sat through a 12 p.m. philosophy class listening to the professor drone on and on about Plato, Socrates, and other philosophers whose names will forever escape my memories.

Towards the end of his lecture, he left us with the question, "What is true happiness?" While most people gave the usual answers, such as, my friends, family, etc., I had no answer to offer - no honest one that is. However, it wasn't until today, October 8, 2018, that I did come up with an honest answer to this question that is true for me. Music seems to be the one consistent thing that I draw happiness from, and in this article, I will be recounting my journey with musical exploration and how I came to my answer today.

How I started listening to music:

Back when I first started middle school, I was a die-hard fan of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, and some of my favorite shows to watch were "Big Time Rush", "Wizards of Waverly Place", and "Sonny With A Chance." A similarity between these shows and many like them was that they had stars that would also make popular hit songs - songs that I would listen to almost religiously. Singers, such as Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, were some of the only people that I would ever listen to and were the really the first artists that I ever truly enjoyed.

I would love watching Disney original movies, such as "Camp Rock" and "Lemonade Mouth," and I would intently listen to every song they made for the movie. Looking back at it, these songs that I placed on the highest of pedestals as a kid are now pure cringe to my older ears. This phase of nonstop listening to trendy teen pop songs would soon take an unexpected turn for me.

How high school changed my taste in music:

When high school started for me, my music taste took a dramatic turn. I went from being a typical teen pop fan to growing more and more infatuated with EDM and hip-hop/rap. My love for EDM first started when "Roses" first came out. It was made by the EDM duo, Chainsmokers, and when I first heard it, I fell in love. I was hypnotized by the mix of the soothing melody and the powerful beat drops. I would eventually go on to listen to more EDM artists, such as Galantis, RL Grime and Diplo. After this discovery of mine, I soon made another musical discovery into the world of hip-hop. Even though I can't really remember the first song that made me a big hip-hop fan, I can remember the feeling that some artists gave me through their songs. Artists, such as Eminem and Logic, made me fall in love with rap because they are able to tell a coherent story in such a way that made me hang on every word they said.

When I finally realized my answer:

As cliché as it sounds, I can genuinely say that music has been a source of pure, unadulterated happiness for me. On October 8, 2018, I finally realized my answer to the question, "What is true happiness?" is in fact music itself. However, what made me realize this answer was a song on Lil Wayne's 2018 album, "Carter V." The specific song was "Let It All Work Out", a song in which he talks about his attempt to take his own life at 12 years old. The song itself is an uplifting message about self-worth and how no matter how hard life can get, there is always a way for it to get better.

This song is most definitely my favorite song on this album and one of my most favorite songs I have listened to this year. As I am writing this article, I have this song on constant repeat and it has yet to become old or stale; all it does is make me the happiest I've been in a long time. Even though I have never had any real thoughts of suicide, I still find the immense amount of worth that this song has on myself and others like it.