Right before I came to NC State my older sister (who went here as well) told me that college would be a time I would want to remember, and that I should find some ways to track my memories. I used to keep a small box of things and I also took a lot of pictures that I posted on Instagram meant to document my college experience. But I never really kept up with the box and although I do use the pictures still, I found another way to document this journey. With music.
One day during my first week at state it just dawned on me that my music taste would likely change a lot in college (I wanted to get more into the local music scene and smaller artists) so I decided that I would make a playlist every semester so I could see this change. And I’m so glad I did. Sometimes it’s funny to look back (especially at the first one I made) and see just how fitting some of the music is to the time when I was listening to it. For instance, you can tell when I had a crush versus when I was crushed (some semesters playlists are much happier than others). But it’s kind of cool to track where my mind was in a certain semester based on what kind of music I was listening to the most at the time.
The best part of all of this is that whenever I want to get into a nostalgic mood I just go back to an old playlist and let myself get swept away. We’ve all had those songs that remind of a certain time/place/person and I definitely see images and memories in my mind whenever I go back to these old playlists. I still make these playlists every semester and It’s something I plan to continue after college because it’s just been such a cool thing and it really keeps me searching for new music and changing up my style/ trying to find new and different things. I would definitely recommend tracking time with music to anyone who also has an obsession with making playlists.
– DJ Psyched