Assignment 23 - Aislinn Langley

It's April. I find myself in "crunch time" of junior year. AP tests are in less than a month, we all have to get our mentoring projects set up, and we can't forget about finals and end-of-the-year projects. There's a rather large amount of stress on everyone's shoulders. Yes, summer is almost here, but at what price?
The following are selections from my playlist titled "How Am I Gonna be an Optimist About This: a playlist for fighting off that crippling end-of-the-year anxiety and stress."

Pompeii, by Bastille. Other than providing the title of the playlist, Pompeii also captures the whole feeling of impending doom brought on by finals and AP tests. The walls keep tumbling down and nothing is okay.

The Final Countdown, by Europe, because sometimes you need to put some pressure on yourself to actually motivate yourself to study.

Bet On It, from High School Musical 2. This is honestly the best song fro getting hype in the face of adversity while also feeling  little ridiculous. It's interesting how empowering this frankly hilarious and overly dramatic song can be. So even if you have zero confidence in you ability to finish out the year, you can at least pretend to have a shred of self confidence.

Livin' on a Prayer, by Bon Jovi. Such an applicable song for the end of the year. Especially as you get your first look at your final/AP test and judging how hard it's going to be. Is the first question going to be "Who was the third president of the United States?" or "Which of the following was a measure taken in diminishing hostilities between the State of California and Korean immigrants in July of 1971?" I don't know but I'm praying it's the former.

I Don't Care, by Fall Out Boy, because no playlist can accurately capture widespread teen angst without some FOB. This is the song for jamming to as you walk out of a test you're pretty sure you just bombed. Because you can go cry about it, or just slip into the comforting clutches of apathy. The title says it all.