No Such Thing as Too Early

Well folks, the countdown for Thanksgiving break is coming to a close. As the Thanksgiving holiday is on its way, naturally, everyone is already singing Christmas music!

I always found it hilarious and completely unreasonable whenever stores would start selling Christmas decorations in late October or the first week of November, but as I mull over the concept, I am a hypocrite on this matter - I have been jamming out to Christmas tunes for the past few weeks, and Thanksgiving is not even here, yet! 

Whether you are one of Santa's elves - exasperatingly ready for Christmas music - or a Scrooge that will humbug his way through the premature Christmas caroling on campus, there are sure to be a few songs that will surely put you in the Christmas spirit, even if it is only November. 

According to the Billboard website, the week of Christmas in 2016 ranked these songs as the top five Christmas songs. 

Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was ranked number one. Carey's incredible range of pitch and vebrato has shown to be a fan favorite once the holiday season begins. With this winter hit, positivity and catchy lyrics seem to fill the streets of every passerby on a snowy December, or November, evening.  Even Scrooge himself probably could not stand flashing a smile when this song rings out from the radio. 

Bobby Helm's "Jingle Bell Rock" was ranked number two. Despite this classic being initiated in 1957, the 21st century public seems to be in love with this favored oldie. As the first few cords are played, followed by some ringing sleigh bells, almost anyone can immediately name the song and prepare for some awesome jingle bell rocking, jingle bell swinging, and jingle bell ringing!  

Brenda Lee's "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" ranked number three. This popular Christmas song has a light-hearted, care-free message encouraging the dancing, decorating, caroling, happiness, and other Christmas traditions and feelings during this holiday season. 

Brenda's number three carol is also well-known from one of my favorite Christmas movies, Home Alone. This wonderful film full of humorous family relations, mischievous justice, and happily-ever-afters will be the best two hours you spend on a cold, winter's night. 

Pentatonix's "Hallelujiah" was ranked number four. This incredible a cappella group is famous for their perfect harmony and amazing ability to recreate many songs ranging from a variety of genres. This particular song, though not exactly a Christmas one, is apparently Christmas-enough to rank in the top five Christmas songs for the Billboard charts. 

Personally, Pentatonix has won my heart as my new favorite Christmas group with the songs That's Christmas to Me  and Go Tell It on the Mountain. 

If you feel like you have heard the "Hallelujah" song before, your feeling is very probable. Another version of "Hallelujah" by John Cale was heard in the Dreamworks production of Shrek, a movie that has had a lasting impression on many when it was released. 

  

Andy Williams's "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" ranked number five. This song by Andy Williams is one of those songs that makes your heart warm and head sure that the holiday season will be "the most wonderful time of the year" with loved ones and joy filling your days. 

As you start to de-dust your Christmas cassettes, records, CD's, and youtube playlists, be sure to lend an ear to these top five songs, especially if your Christmas spirit is lagging. x

"Adulting" is Overated

The joys of being a young adult: finally waking up after hitting the snooze button four times, showing up to a class in something resembling the pajamas you rolled out of bed wearing, and having to clean your room once a month because you do not know if that smell is your dirty socks or something that has died under your bed. 

If you had parents like mine, they would always say something along the lines of, "Being an adult means having more responsibilities," or, "I've been doing this 'adulting' thing for over 30 years now, so quit complaining." I guess waking up on time, looking presentable, and cleaning the deep dark depths of your bedroom are not exactly earth shattering adult tasks for our parents. 

I think it is safe to say that "adulting" is way overated. The good news about being a young adults is that you have a few more chances to unleash your inner kiddo - it's called the weekend! 

One of the activities that enveloped my childhood was definitely all things Disney. Parents can complain all they want about their kids watching Frozen or Moana a gazillion times, but really, we all love those childhood moments. The great news is that you can still have those kiddo moments even as an adult! 

The Lion King is always a popular go to, as this movie has literally everything: love, action, humor, murder, betrayal, revenge, and a good-triumphs-evil finale. Thanks to the RemixManiacs and our technology-focused world, you can now pump up the party with some awesome Lion King jams perfect for dancing!

With Mowgli and Baloo, you are bound for a great time! This Jungle Book remix, published by Cleora Stallings, has quite the beat, comical sound effects, and a variety of songs from this crazy jungle adventure. 

If you really want to make a memorable Friday night, bring this song and the new, live-action Jungle Book movie to fill your evening with good music, a realistic and thrilling movie, and responsible decisions.  

To fully satisfy every girl's princess fix, this "Under the Sea" remix by Nate Ford has something for everyone. The ladies will be remembering their childhood day dreams of being a little mermaid, and the gentlemen will, well... probably be remembering how their sisters or female cousins forced them to watch what they understood as an underwater orchestrated nightmare. 

Though some may say this movie has been overdone with advertisements and merchandise, this Frozen remix published by TrapFactory will revamp your long lost love for Idina Mendzel and her beloved song, "Let it Go." Bring this mix to your next game night, and you may have some out of control karaoke singers on your hands. 

What makes these Disney movies and song remixes so great is how they are always a part of our inner child. Now go out and be a kid for the weekend by getting your Disney on! 

Deep Breaths

They always say, "You'll do great! Don't worry about it!" Well, it's pretty hard not to worry about messing up a speech in front of a room full of people. 

If you read almost any article or research paper about the fears of public speaking, you are sure to find that public speaking ranks the number one fear amongst people while the fear of death takes the silver medal. The fear of speaking is ranked number one over all of the thousands of other fears. Do you know how many fears and phobias exist? I can tell you, there are a ton - some of them are pretty comical, too! I highly recommend you skim through the phobia list to give yourself a good laugh at some of these fears. 

One of the techniques I use to dial down the anxiety is through slow tunes.  

My personal recommendation is to listen to some songs on your walk to class or wherever your speech may be held. Listening to music before you enter the building should allow you to get your jitters out before you enter your "all-seriousness zone..." and start freaking out all over again. 

Before a speech, choosing a song that has a more calm, relaxing, slower rhythm to it will probably help keep your heart rate from speeding up before presentation time. 

Oh, how I hate the accelerated heart beat! When nerves kick in, my heart races like Secretariat in the final stretch of the Kentucky Derby. My face turns red. I break out into a sweat like I had just been on a mile-long run. Ugh, the dreaded heart beat; it's the same one I get from from watching horror films - I have only ever watched two, but two is enough for a lifetime. 

Anyways, slow and steady wins the race. Do not come to class jamming out to Taylor Swift's "22" or Aerosmith's "Dream On" right before you walk in to give a speech. Your heart rate will be pumping into next week, leaving you little room to recover before your talk. 

I like to stick to something more classy: jazz.

 

One of my favorite jazz songs is "Fly Me To the Moon" by Frank Sinatra. If you have never heard of Frank Sinatra, 1) shame on you, and 2) his voice is literally like caramel. "Fly Me To the Moon" has a good tempo, not too fast but not bore-you-to-sleep-while-walking slow. Not to mention, the lyrics make you feel all gooey inside, and who doesn't like gooey? 

If you are one of those people who procrastinates until the very last minute and likes to go over your notecards before class, you may want to listen to music without lyrics. In that case, there are many popular hits that have been turned into instrumentals. Below are a few examples of some great, slow, sappy songs that might make you tear up a little, but that also keep you at a nice, calm persona. You will also notice that the same piano player is jingling the ivory keys in each video. Costantino Carrara  has plenty of talent and a wide variety of songs you can choose from, all instrumental. 

The first song is "All of Me" by John Legend. 

The second song is "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth. 

The third song is "Let Her Go" by Passengers. 

Whether you are freaking out for your speech or are prepping on the go, I encourage you to take some time to sway to some Sinatra or mull over some amazing instrumentals. Both will hopefully, fingers crossed, calm you down enough to rock your speech with as little nerves as possible. And don't worry! You'll do great! Just take deep breaths. 

Killer Beats and Running Sneaks

Don't you just love when you see those super athletic people on those really loud and obnoxious infomercials? The actors are always extremely toned with really nice, slimming, matching, athletic outfits. Their hair is perfectly collected, and ladies, their make-up is always exactly as it should be. I don't know about you, but this is never how I look when I go for a workout.

In reality, I am the person you see at the gym with ratty old gym shorts and some baggy t-shirt that I've worn for years with some pair of gross sneakers and sweat, sweat, sweat. Every time I see one of those cute little actresses in their skimpy little athletic clothes on those television commercials, it takes everything in me not to cringe as I regret not going to the gym earlier in the day. The worst part is in not going is the guilt that you should go, and the worst part in going is, well... all of it.

When it comes to exercise, it takes a lot of motivation for me to push myself into getting a better, more intense workout. Let's face it, when your body starts to shake from planks or when you are running out of breath on the treadmill, the clock always seems to slow down like it's laughing in your face, reminding you that you shouldn't have touched that milkshake at the creamery the other day.

The absolute worst thing that could ever happen during a workout, though, is a commercial on the radio during the last couple of minutes of your workout. Those minutes suddenly become the most hated minutes of your life because while you are running on a treadmill or pumping iron or trying to hold a plank or convincing yourself to do some pushups, that stupid commercial about the double bacon cheeseburger with extra cheese on a nice, soft bun comes on, and that pushes you just over the edge.

The only way I can survive a workout is through music. Music is my motivation, and if you are a regular exercise goer, you've probably noticed that most gyms always have a radio handy and blasting nice and loud, or everyone else has their earbuds in tuning out the world to listen to their own music.

After researching some articles containing studies conducted in the field of music and exercise, the articles The Influence of Rhythm and Personality in the Endurance Response to Motivational Asynchronous Music and On the Role of Lyrics in the Music–Exercise Performance Relationship detail the conclusions of their research both being that high-tempoed music with lyrics tend to motivate people to workout longer or faster during an exercise while the same song without lyrics shows slightly less success in motivation and enhanced exercise, and no music shows having the least effect with motivation and pushing oneself during a workout. 

With this idea in mind, high-tempoed music with motivational lyrics tend to be the best songs to encourage you to work harder, or faster, when you are exercising, providing you with a much more productive work out at the gym.

According to the 14 Motivational Workout Songs recommended by Pop Crush, one of the songs listed and that I recommend is "We Own It" by Wiz Khalif and 2Chainz. This song has inspiring lyrics that can push viewers and exercise enthusiasts to "own" their workout, motivating them to work harder along with a pretty catchy rhythm and generally quick pace. I highly recommend viewing most of the songs on the remainder of the Pop Crush list for a great workout playlist.

In addition to these popular hits, for those of you that really need a motivational boost, I recommend FLAME's song, "Start Over," featuring Christian rapper, NF. This quick song has a great bass in the background in addition to incredible words of inspiration to help make a bad day brighter.

And finally for all of you music lovers that need a rocking girl-power jam session, I personally encourage Elle King's song, "America's Sweetheart." This song has the ultimate tempo for a solid workout along with a strong-willed message of deviating from societal expectations to be who you really are.

So the next time you force yourself into the gym for a hard but healthy workout, make your exercise a little more bearable with a fast, motivational set of tunes. All you need are some killer beats and your running sneaks!

Every Student's Most Important Playlist

Stop talking. Please stop talking. Could you stop tapping your pencil on the desk. Would you mind not humming the Frozen theme song right now? Is there any chance you can sit there and not make any noise? Thirty minutes is all I am asking for. Please just be quiet!

As students, the reality is that we are bound to spend a good chunk of our time studying and preparing ourselves for our weekly classes, assignments, and exams. The one simple detail we all run into at one point or another is the struggle of finding some peace and quiet in which to focus. 

Let's face it, sometimes our roommates are not the best motivations for good study habits. They may putter around their side of the room looking for something to distract them from accomplishing actual work. Their phones may constantly be buzz, buzz, buzzing with a stream of loud, interrupting text messages or notifications. They may just have the constant urge to tap their fingers or writing utensils to the rhythm of their own drum or to their favorite song of the day. Needless to say, you are left trying your absolute hardest not to focus on all of this distracting background noise and instead focus on your notebook, textbook, or computer screen trying to figure out how, on this green earth, you are ever going to get this assignment done. 

This picture provided by richardoyork. 

Many students revert to going to a different study location. While this plan can sometimes be a safe haven, there are only so many places that offer totally dead silence for the quintessential studiers of the world. I can count the number of places of I have discovered on my college campus that are best equipped for studying, or for waking the dead with the strength of the silence, on one hand; there aren't many, that's for sure. 

One sure-fire way to avoid having to migrate your entire course load to a new and isolated section of the world where no one knows you exist is through one pure wonder: music. 

After doing a little bit of research, I found an article written by Aftab Ali titled, "Classical Music and Studying: The Top 10 Pieces to Listen to for Exam Success". This article was published in May of 2016 explaining the American and French studies on the impact of classical music in regards to test scores. In this rather brief article, the author describes how classical music is a successful tool in tuning out the world around you, focusing on your study material, and even helping release some of the anxiety you may have as you look at your crazy busy school schedule ahead of you. 

The number one song on the list of classical music from this article is "Canon in D" by John Pachelbel. This song is almost a full three minutes of wordless, relaxing, slow-tempoed piano music, providing an essence of peace and comfort as one studies their materials until all hours of the night. 

As a freshman college student this year, I have found many different methods of studying that have worked and failed miserably thus far in my educational career. While there are many who say classical music is a wonderful source of inspiration to crack open the textbooks and get to work, I find that I get easily distracted by classical music. Seeing the I used to play piano in my younger days, I will find myself focusing on the notes in a particular song instead of the words on my textbook page. Another slight detail is the constant change in songs. Unless you are a ridiculously fast worker and can get your assignments done in three or four minutes, the continuous break in music and switch from one song to the next allows for outside noise to break my focus and start me at the very beginning of my focusing process. 

In years past, I have tried desperately to tune out the sounds of television and conversations between my parents as they go about their normal routines. If your family is anything like mine, the one thing we are not is quiet. In an attempt to extract myself from any and all noise, I decided the best way was to drown my house in nature music. My theory was that if I could listen to music that was from the natural world, I would have an endless supply of constant and soothing noise to keep my mind fixed on my work. I went so far as to download an app on my cell phone called "Nature Melody" that provided me with 31 different rhythms ranging from "wind blowing leaves" to airplane engines to "turkey talk" to ocean waves to rainfall and so many more.

This image provided by Marco Verch.

While this method of background noise helped remove the loud and distracting sounds of my house, the phone app did not fully help me concentrate. Again I ran into a brick wall as I would actually anticipate the next ocean wave to sound through my ear buds or try to find a pattern in how the songbirds sang instead of putting my brain to good use in my studies. 

Somehow, I endured high school with this melody app and some of my classical music playlist, though I will say that I pulled many late nights and suffered from a terrible lack of sleep during the school day. Well, I guess not much has really changed quite yet. 

This year, I started to experience a similar issue. While trying to study for important exams or trying to finish assignments due the next day, I found myself getting easily sidetracked with the darnedest fixations of amusement such as checking my email, eavesdropping on conversations in the hallway, or listening to my roommate study out loud every now and then. I would always find an excuse to take my eyes away from my work, giving me less motivation by the second. My personal preference of music to drown out my college dorm distractions is through Study Music Alpha Waves. This almost three hour long YouTube video has an excellent flow of not so much a melody as just long, extended notes that blend together in no real pattern or rhythm. The sound of the song seems kind of off in the distance, allowing you to crank up the volume, ignore everything around you, focus on your schoolwork, and hopefully get you to bed on time. 

Whether you choose to listen to classical, nature, or Alpha Wave music, these songs without words or foot-tapping melodies provide a calm and controlled environment for you to get your work done. While we all love college, sometimes we need to disappear into our headphones, and textbooks, to do our jobs: be students.