Music festival season is something I hold close to my heart. Being at a music festival is like being in a snow globe -- it's as if the whole world around you is moving, but you're stuck in the best possible moment you can imagine. (I know, I know, it sounds dramatic but it's really true.)

I started going to festivals my junior year of high school after I spent weeks trying to convince my parents to let me go to one day of the Governor's Ball on Randall's Island in NYC. I wanted to see some of my favorite artists of all time (Phoenix -- really?) and a group of my friends that I hadn't seen in a while. I only wanted to go to Friday (the festival goes from Friday through Sunday with no camping on the island), and eventually, my efforts paid off and my parents let me skip school for the day. Before I knew it, I was on a ferry with my ticket in hand -- festival bound for the first time in my life.

I went into it with no previous knowledge and no idea what to expect. Everyone on the ferry was around the same age, and everyone was ridiculously friendly. I mean, it was New York City. Striking up conversations about what artist you're most excited to see with a stranger in a non-creepy way is unheard of. That's when I knew the festival atmosphere was something different.

The whole day was a blur. I forgot sunscreen, met up with friends I hadn't seen in months, danced to Phoenix while the sun set, and was totally hooked. It was as if I was in some parallel universe: everyone had the same agenda, everyone loved the bands and the food trucks just as much as I did. It was as if time had stopped. I knew I had to go back.

My senior year in high school, I went back to Governor's Ball. I saw Flume, Clean Bandit and Marina & The Diamonds. I was introduced to Rustie and ASTR. I was with my best friends, and I spent all of Saturday dancing and singing and getting sunburned (I didn't learn) with them. That was one of my highlights from senior year.

A few weeks later, I (somehow) convinced my parents to let me go to Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware. Three of my friends and I packed our stuff and ourselves into a car at 5 a.m. and drove the four hours to our camp site. The four straight days of music, food and new and old friends was one of the best experiences I've ever had.

Firefly was unique because it meant that you had to camp out in order to go to the festival. I'd never set up a tent before, I'd never been so dehydrated before (that was a low) and I'd never met so many people that were so likeminded in one setting for days on end. Also, the lineup for Firefly is consistently incredible. In 2015, I saw Paul McCartney, Zedd, Odesza, Clean Bandit, Cage the Elephant and Morrisey in the same day. When does that ever happen? Only at Firefly. And I remembered sunscreen.

There is nothing in the world quite like being around likeminded people. With music festivals, you get to be around people that love music just as much as you do for days: camping with them, dancing with them, just being around them and hanging out. Firefly changed my entire vision: it was so incredible getting to meet people that were so similar to me - and not only for one day like The Governor's Ball, I got to spend almost an entire week with them.

This year, I'm going back to Gov Ball with my best friends from high school, Firefly with some of my best friends from all across the country, and I'm going to experience Boston Calling for the first time.

If you love music and you've never done the festival circuit, you should try to go to one. Everyone's there for the music and for the people and they're all over the world: you can go to SXSW, Austin City Limits, Coachella, EDC or Firefly. Everyone appeals to a different kind of person and a different genre of music. Look into it -- it's worth it. Promise. Oh, and I also might go to Lollapalooza. I'll keep you updated.