Welcome Back to School! Here Are Some Music Recommendations for a Productive New Semester…
On February 19, 2024, the SMIC Private School has welcomed a new semester! On this cold winter day, the return to school was a heartwarming event for all students and teachers. On the first day of school, the school was spick and span and the floors were clean and shiny. The students had happy smiles on their faces. Students had so many things to talk about! Some were discussing why the winter break was so short, some were communicating where they should go for lunch, and some were talking about school work that had not yet been completed and much more. For some students, returning to school was equivalent as coming home, and the students hugged each other as if they had been separated for a century. The teachers are in full swing, trying to make the most of every second so that the students can learn as much as possible. Welcome back to school and here’s to a great new semester!
With the start of the new semester, many students already have numerous tests and exams coming up. In order to have a productive semester, I recommend some music albums/playlists that can increase our productivity when completing tasks.
1. Before the Stars — Gerardo Millán
This is the album that immediately came to my mind when I think about what to listen during study sessions. I listened to it the night before while I was doing my homework. I’d say it’s a typical Lofi album, where there are no lyrics and the overall melody is peaceful and calm. After a long day of talking to other people/socializing, I just feel tired and want to escape home, clear my mind and not listen to anything that has lyrics (as I don’t want to hear people talking anymore). The music in this album creates an ambient atmosphere in my room. Since I’m one of those people who get anxious easily, the calming nature of this album helps to create a relaxing and conducive environment for my studies and reduce my stress and fatigue. Also, as the whole album is made up of fairly similar songs, the repetitive nature of the music can help create a rhythm and flow to studying, which helps concentration 🙂
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIQd2Ya0Ziw
Maybe sometimes we can’t really concentrate listening to music while writing something, but we also want to listen to “something” instead of sitting in an empty room without any sound. This is the right time to listen to some “white noise” (in Chinese this is called 白噪音). This playlist mainly consists of the sounds of a rain shower and all kinds of nature sounds. Last year (junior year), when I had a lot of stress and anxiety, I used this playlist to calm myself down. I was able to focus better under the sounds of nature, looked at my phone less, finished my assignments on time and fell asleep earlier. It gives me the feeling of being in nature and feeling revitalized. I find myself having a lot of new thoughts when I’m accompanied by these white noises, so I think they’ll definitely give us new thoughts/insights when working on our papers. Another good thing about this playlist is that it doesn’t include any ads, so we won’t be distracted by any external factors or getting “jump scared.”
If you have any good music recommendations for studying, please leave your picks in the comment section, it would really help our students have a more efficient semester!!!