Often spotted around school, the academic weapon specimen at Northwood can be identified by common traits: backpacks that seem to sag to the floor, eyebags deeper than their H10 poetry analysis and busy eyes rapidly scanning their AP U.S. History notes before a content quiz. The common academic weapons pride themselves in three specific ingredients to their infamous studiousness and meticulous work ethic: caffeine, painstakingly organized notes and, above all, a well put-together study playlist.
Although classical music is the most popular choice of music to study with, everybody’s preferences differ. Here are a few effective yet underrated playlist genres that can help you get into your academic weapon era.
Playlist #1: Christmas music
Try using the power of anticipation to motivate you. By blasting your favorite Christmas hits, you can get yourself into the holiday spirit only ten months early. (Just don’t be one of those people, who only obsessively listen to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” until the high-pitched whistle notes start to deteriorate the insides of your ears.)
With classic Christmas hits, such as Wham!’s “Last Christmas” or Michael Buble’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas,” the holiday joy will excite you into finishing your spring anchor in one sitting while generally boosting your mood. Maybe you can even begin working on your Christmas wishlist after you’re done! Though, wishing for all 4s on your anchor for Christmas might not be very realistic.
Playlist #2: Lofi music interrupted by the occasional heavy metal
The calming nature of lofi music helps many students immerse themselves into a soothing study session late at night, but sometimes, it’s a little too soothing.
To avoid turning your study nights into a snooze fest, get some adrenaline pumping through your veins by scattering random heavy metal rock throughout your playlist to startle you awake every few minutes. For your LoFi tunes, turn to “LoFi Girl” on youtube for the best relaxing study tunes, but don’t forget to sneak in works from Pierce the Veil or Silverstein. Aside from serving as an excellent alarm, the guttural screaming also adds to the true highschool burnt-out student aesthetic.
Playlist #3: Childhood nostalgia
In the midst of all despair, reminiscing in nostalgia can feel soothing. Sometimes, when the AP Biology class content starts to become a little too difficult, the best option is to simply deny the existence of central dogma by reverting back to your younger days when you didn’t know what operons and repressors were.
By listening to childhood bangers like the “Wonder Pets Theme Song” or the wide array of Disney songs you grew up with, you’ll feel rejuvenated. This sudden surge of energy will propel you just enough to last a few more hours into your study session.
Playlist #4: Miserable songs
Another way to approach hopelessness is to embrace the misery and bask in it. When the clock strikes midnight and you’re at your desk, still lost on the concept of trigonometry, accept the existential dread and cue the sad music.
From select works by Adele and Billie Eilish, reach into the innermost depths of your emotions and channel your inner emo. By forcing yourself into going through all five stages of grief at 12 a.m. in the span of 10 minutes, you’ll hopefully reach your “acceptance” phase and finally finish the problem you’ve been stuck on for three hours.
“What Was I Made For?” Clearly not pre-calculus.
Playlist #5: Street interview videos
If all above methods fail, there is only one solution left to stop yourself from falling prey to utter insanity.
Find a compilation of Americans in street trivia interviews and keep it on loop while taking your history notes. When you hear uneducated Americans declaring Africa a country, you’ll feel terrified for the wellbeing of our nation and start studying harder than ever in hopes of saving face for our generation.
