" Hamilton: The Musical" debuted as a single rap in 2009 at the presidential "Evening of Poetry Music and Spoken Word." Lin Manuel Miranda introduced the rap as the beginning to a new "concept album about the life of someone [he thinks] embodies hip hop: treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton." Of course, everyone there laughed politely at the absurdity of a hip-hop album about a Founding Father.
And yet, here we are now in 2016. This seemingly ironic modern twist on American history has now broken all conventions of historical studies and hip-hop. Just as society was beginning to wonder if Broadway and live plays were a dying art, "Hamilton: The Musical" rewrote history.
Now, “Hamilton: The Musical” has an almost cult-like following. Die hard fans eat, sleep, and breathe “Hamilton” and its ingenious lyrics. However, the lyrics are more than just catchy, they're beyond relatable. Here's your freshman year of college, told purely by "Hamilton: the Musical."
Orientation Week
You walk on to campus for the first time feeling like top dog:
"I'm young, scrappy and hungry."
And before they go, your parents remind you how hard independence is:
"You're on your own. Awesome. Wow. Do you have a clue what happens now?"
But you're too busy gawking at the cool Seniors leading Orientation:
“So how’d you do it? How’d you graduate so fast?”
During the Q & A you ask the Seniors for a piece of wisdom:
“Talk less, smile more.”
First Day of Classes
It's your first day! You're filled with unbridled optimism.
“There's nothing that your mind can't do."
But you walk into class...and apparently there was homework for the first day of classes:
"What did I miss?"
And then there's 'that guy' in class, who won't stop sucking up to the professor:
“Why do you assume you’re the smartest in the room?”
You have your first crisis.
After years thinking you would major in one thing, you decide to switch your major:
"The world turned upside down."
And you feel like nothing is stable anymore:
“I am the one thing in life I can control. I am inimitable, I am an original.”
You're so overwhelmed, you want to curl up and die:
"Dying is easy. Living is harder."
And then you realize, on top of everything else, you're broke:
"I don't have a dollar to my name, an acre of land, a troop to command, a dollop of fame. All I've got is my honor, a tolerance for pain, a couple of college credits and my top notch brain."
Freshman Frenzy
You came into college not dating anyone, you look around at all the cute prospects and smile:
"I am so into you."
You focus in on the cute kid in your freshman year seminar, and act like an idiot around them:
"When you smile, I fall apart. And I thought I was so smart."
You have to pair up with someone in class for a project, and you basically run over to your crush:
"I am not throwing away my shot."
Your First All-Nighter
The time comes for your first all-nighter, which you swore would never happen to you:
"They'll tell the story of tonight."
You begin to wonder what'll happen if you don't finish, but you try not to go there:
"You push away the unimaginable."
By 2 a.m. you start to cry, but then you remind yourself to keep pulling through:
"I stop wasting time on tears."
By 5 a.m. you don't know if you'll make it:
"Why do you write like you're running out of time?"
But of course, 8 a.m. comes and you turn in your freshly printed paper. You're proud, but can't help wondering what it could've been like if you had more time:
"And when my time is up, have I done enough?"
Finals Week
You begin studying for finals:
"I'm dedicating every day to you."
But soon you realize you definitely didn't start studying soon enough:
"And I pray. That never used to happen before."
You take the test, and all you want is a C:
“That would be enough.”
But then you find out you got an A!:
"Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.”
End of the School Year
People start asking you what you're doing this summer, but you have no clue.
"I'll keep all my plans near my chest."
You apply for your first internship, only to learn how unqualified you are. Will batting your eyes work?
“There’s a million things I haven’t done, but just you wait.”
Last day of school, you know you're gonna miss this place:
“Teach me how to say goodbye.”
But you know that pretty soon you'll see this place again:
"You'll be back. Soon you'll see."
Freshman year is full of scary, new and exciting experiences. Make sure you treasure it, because it'll go by before you know it. Hopefully you can relate to these Hamilton lyrics all you #hamfans.
