Why I Love Music

One question that has jarred my mind for years is the first thing almost every adult told me when they first found out I was moving to China, “Wow! Colleges will love you because of that, you can just write all about your experiences in China.” I hated that, I don’t think of my life as growing up in Ohio, Belgium, Illinois and China. I look at the progression of my life through music and how it has influenced me as a person, ultimately to discover that there is no such thing as strangers when you have the same taste in music.

Music has always been apart of my life; it has become a medium of experiencing my own thoughts and a reflection of my identity. The development in exploring and experiencing music is what transitioned me from a kid conforming to the typical "preppy" suburban lifestyle, to an individualistic adult with a voice. I began to connect the emotions and experiences I’ve had in life with the music I was listening to. The song "Ocean Man" conjures the image of when my friends and I would skateboard all day, from our houses to the heart of Shanghai. We would be dipping and ducking amongst the masses as we rolled through our smoggy reality. The song “Messes of Men” reminds me of the sorrow in my step as I boarded a plane leaving China.

After struggling to fit in at Shanghai American School for over a year, it appeared that my venture into the subculture of skateboarding allowed me to connect with people. Although, it had nothing to do with skateboarding, that was merely the strengthening factor to my friendship with some guys. In actuality, music was the communal factor that brought us together. Certain songs started to become an identity for our group, songs we all enjoyed. Even in the blazing heat of the summer, we could be sitting on our self-claimed bench and sing those songs as we strutted our stuff on our skateboards. Music is what drove bonds in a rather diverse group of guys. It taught me that, there is no such thing as strangers when you