how many of you listen to music on your
car right here today
pretty much everyone nice now how many
of you chose a specific song album
playlist or even radio station nice
pretty much everybody again why do I ask
this well as I made my way here today I
got in my car and blurred my pumpup
playlist whenever I go for a drive
whether it’s across the street or quite
a trek I always make sure to plug in my
phone open up my music and find a
playlist that matches my mood for as
long as I can remember music has had
some sort of influence in my life some
of my earliest memories involve music
and the emotions that came along with it
I remember when I was just a toddler I
could never get to bed by my bedtime
maybe it was too much residual energy
the fear of the dark despite my constant
nagging at the Holly be left turned on
or maybe even just the fear of not being
able to fall asleep but the one thing
that would finally blow me to sleep was
music in comes my trusty CD player with
a bright silver color and sound that
illuminated the room when the lights
were off now in my CD collection there
were the cringe-worthy kids Bob the
first 15 plus the Christmas edition to
be exact but there was also songs like
Madonna’s hung up and the Backstreet
Boys larger than life it was my first
exposure to mainstream culture I was
inspired to seize the day by never
living a dull moment to be larger than
life myself with this daily lullaby I
learned about the many mistakes that
adults make with some going right over
my head and now that I think about it
maybe Madonna wasn’t the best thing for
a seven-year-old to listen to but these
songs stuck and even though my fear of
the dark disappeared the influence music
played on my life continued fast-forward
to middle school a tumultuous time for
everyone I however was determined to
beat the odds and enjoy my middle school
years I had proven myself to be an avid
soon in elementary school and I was on
the honors track my elementary school
friends continued with me to middle
school and life seemed good
around this time I was introduced to an
artist by the name of ellie goulding she
was not very big at the time only having
released one album but this Pandora
suggestion intrigued me her song lights
became my anthem and it reminded me of
the time when I was afraid of the dark
and the emotions that I brought with it
she sung you show the lights that stop
me turn to stone you shine them when I’m
alone and so I’ll tell myself that I’ll
be strong and dreaming when they’re gone
these lines were catchy and were
associated with me finally being able to
fall asleep but life sure has a funny
way of sneaking up on you and it sure
scared me in seventh grade seventh grade
was the year that I became self-aware
that I started looking inside myself at
who I was and what I stood for rather
than letting the outside simply
influence me growing up I typically
didn’t have a care in the world as I was
usually sheltered by the many conflicts
of real life but that bubble was
shattered when I realized that I was gay
confusion swirled in my mind I was the
middle of Confirmation at my church
whose teachings I emphatically followed
and I still enjoy many of its principles
today but this seemed so wrong such an
outline what I felt like was an
otherwise fantastic life the groove that
I’ve been following for such a long time
suddenly had a very sour note so even
though I knew my sexuality deep down it
became an embarrassing secret at this
point I had continued my tradition of
listening to music when I would fall
asleep and many nights were defined by
Kelly Clarkson’s dark side I asked God
with her lyrics
everybody’s got a dark side do you love
me can you love mine life was not over
though despite what many adolescents
like myself at the time would like us to
believe my ellie goulding fangirling had
increasingly been in viewed as an
obsession but with a new album Halcyon I
learned that it’s gonna be better as I
work toward a brighter future that might
somehow have a better ring to it I had
accepted my sexuality but I wasn’t quite
ready to share with others yet I never
get it through life not quite sure who I
was or who I wanted to be
I pretended to have the typical teen
crushes and tried to fit in rather than
stand out but I felt like the song kool
Kidz was written for me with the words
yeah they’re living the good life can’t
see what he is going through I wish that
I could be like the cool kids
but that doesn’t quite work I felt that
there had to be more to life than just
wading through it trying to avoid the
unpleasant situations or experiences
that I was put in that’s what I stumbled
across Betty who whose song made me
realize whose song just like me made me
realize something she’s saying so if you
think you’re falling apart if you’ve got
a broken heart then you’re just like me
suddenly I realized that the problems
and emotions that I’ve been swallowing
in order to function in daily life
cannot be continued to be held down and
they don’t need to be because we all
have challenges presented to us these
challenges may seem unique they may make
you feel isolated and it may make you
feel like the one person out of
seven-and-a-half billion people on the
face of the earth with that challenge
but one of the most defining qualities
of being human I’ve come to realize is
that we can all share experiences and
empathize with one another quickly
things start to click into place the
reason why music carries such power is
not because of its market value or its
popularity but because of how can bring
people together whether from across the
room to across the world many of the are
the songs that I mentioned tonight if
you look at the artists inspiration
behind them have absolutely nothing to
do with the problems that I had at the
times they held the most value to me but
that’s what’s so critical how many of
you can think of at least one song that
holds a special meaning to you
and that’s pretty much everybody for me
music started by comforting me with
words that I most likely didn’t even
understand and connecting me to the
outside world but then those words
gained meaning and most importantly they
gained meaning to me just like they do
for each and every one of you here today
now as I look forward to the next
chapter of my life in college I’m
extremely thankful for this realization
it has led me to challenge myself in
ways that I never would have dreamed of
in the past in high school I joined
student government and I even started
acting last year now whenever I feel sad
lost frustrated or stuck I play the song
paper light by luring in my head where
she declares we are born to be higher
higher than gender orientation higher
than the stereotypes that permeate our
society and higher than the little
problems that we often concern ourselves
so much with the soundtrack of my life
plays a much sweeter tune now and of
course it contains many of my favorites
including Ellie and so I would like to
ask for you all that you listen to your
soundtrack and see is it the sound that
you want to hear if so sharing it with
others and enjoy it if not remember that
you are not alone and that there was
always another track coming up next and
who knows maybe your soundtrack will be
larger than life we are all connected by
music thank you
car right here today
pretty much everyone nice now how many
of you chose a specific song album
playlist or even radio station nice
pretty much everybody again why do I ask
this well as I made my way here today I
got in my car and blurred my pumpup
playlist whenever I go for a drive
whether it’s across the street or quite
a trek I always make sure to plug in my
phone open up my music and find a
playlist that matches my mood for as
long as I can remember music has had
some sort of influence in my life some
of my earliest memories involve music
and the emotions that came along with it
I remember when I was just a toddler I
could never get to bed by my bedtime
maybe it was too much residual energy
the fear of the dark despite my constant
nagging at the Holly be left turned on
or maybe even just the fear of not being
able to fall asleep but the one thing
that would finally blow me to sleep was
music in comes my trusty CD player with
a bright silver color and sound that
illuminated the room when the lights
were off now in my CD collection there
were the cringe-worthy kids Bob the
first 15 plus the Christmas edition to
be exact but there was also songs like
Madonna’s hung up and the Backstreet
Boys larger than life it was my first
exposure to mainstream culture I was
inspired to seize the day by never
living a dull moment to be larger than
life myself with this daily lullaby I
learned about the many mistakes that
adults make with some going right over
my head and now that I think about it
maybe Madonna wasn’t the best thing for
a seven-year-old to listen to but these
songs stuck and even though my fear of
the dark disappeared the influence music
played on my life continued fast-forward
to middle school a tumultuous time for
everyone I however was determined to
beat the odds and enjoy my middle school
years I had proven myself to be an avid
soon in elementary school and I was on
the honors track my elementary school
friends continued with me to middle
school and life seemed good
around this time I was introduced to an
artist by the name of ellie goulding she
was not very big at the time only having
released one album but this Pandora
suggestion intrigued me her song lights
became my anthem and it reminded me of
the time when I was afraid of the dark
and the emotions that I brought with it
she sung you show the lights that stop
me turn to stone you shine them when I’m
alone and so I’ll tell myself that I’ll
be strong and dreaming when they’re gone
these lines were catchy and were
associated with me finally being able to
fall asleep but life sure has a funny
way of sneaking up on you and it sure
scared me in seventh grade seventh grade
was the year that I became self-aware
that I started looking inside myself at
who I was and what I stood for rather
than letting the outside simply
influence me growing up I typically
didn’t have a care in the world as I was
usually sheltered by the many conflicts
of real life but that bubble was
shattered when I realized that I was gay
confusion swirled in my mind I was the
middle of Confirmation at my church
whose teachings I emphatically followed
and I still enjoy many of its principles
today but this seemed so wrong such an
outline what I felt like was an
otherwise fantastic life the groove that
I’ve been following for such a long time
suddenly had a very sour note so even
though I knew my sexuality deep down it
became an embarrassing secret at this
point I had continued my tradition of
listening to music when I would fall
asleep and many nights were defined by
Kelly Clarkson’s dark side I asked God
with her lyrics
everybody’s got a dark side do you love
me can you love mine life was not over
though despite what many adolescents
like myself at the time would like us to
believe my ellie goulding fangirling had
increasingly been in viewed as an
obsession but with a new album Halcyon I
learned that it’s gonna be better as I
work toward a brighter future that might
somehow have a better ring to it I had
accepted my sexuality but I wasn’t quite
ready to share with others yet I never
get it through life not quite sure who I
was or who I wanted to be
I pretended to have the typical teen
crushes and tried to fit in rather than
stand out but I felt like the song kool
Kidz was written for me with the words
yeah they’re living the good life can’t
see what he is going through I wish that
I could be like the cool kids
but that doesn’t quite work I felt that
there had to be more to life than just
wading through it trying to avoid the
unpleasant situations or experiences
that I was put in that’s what I stumbled
across Betty who whose song made me
realize whose song just like me made me
realize something she’s saying so if you
think you’re falling apart if you’ve got
a broken heart then you’re just like me
suddenly I realized that the problems
and emotions that I’ve been swallowing
in order to function in daily life
cannot be continued to be held down and
they don’t need to be because we all
have challenges presented to us these
challenges may seem unique they may make
you feel isolated and it may make you
feel like the one person out of
seven-and-a-half billion people on the
face of the earth with that challenge
but one of the most defining qualities
of being human I’ve come to realize is
that we can all share experiences and
empathize with one another quickly
things start to click into place the
reason why music carries such power is
not because of its market value or its
popularity but because of how can bring
people together whether from across the
room to across the world many of the are
the songs that I mentioned tonight if
you look at the artists inspiration
behind them have absolutely nothing to
do with the problems that I had at the
times they held the most value to me but
that’s what’s so critical how many of
you can think of at least one song that
holds a special meaning to you
and that’s pretty much everybody for me
music started by comforting me with
words that I most likely didn’t even
understand and connecting me to the
outside world but then those words
gained meaning and most importantly they
gained meaning to me just like they do
for each and every one of you here today
now as I look forward to the next
chapter of my life in college I’m
extremely thankful for this realization
it has led me to challenge myself in
ways that I never would have dreamed of
in the past in high school I joined
student government and I even started
acting last year now whenever I feel sad
lost frustrated or stuck I play the song
paper light by luring in my head where
she declares we are born to be higher
higher than gender orientation higher
than the stereotypes that permeate our
society and higher than the little
problems that we often concern ourselves
so much with the soundtrack of my life
plays a much sweeter tune now and of
course it contains many of my favorites
including Ellie and so I would like to
ask for you all that you listen to your
soundtrack and see is it the sound that
you want to hear if so sharing it with
others and enjoy it if not remember that
you are not alone and that there was
always another track coming up next and
who knows maybe your soundtrack will be
larger than life we are all connected by
music thank you
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