It is late at night on Monday. I am trying to get my homework done. I can’t really focus because my little brother is playing his stereo at full volume, my mother is on the phone (she’s a very loud speaker when it comes to phone conversations), and my dad is downstairs, working on another project to make our house look nicer, his table saw buzzing as loud as it can be. Of course, I waited until the last minute to do my math homework, a subject that is not my best. Actually, it’s my worst subject. I’m sitting on my bed, and I have a calculator and #2 pencil at my side. On the other side of me is my green and black MP3 player. It holds exactly four hundred and seventy-two songs.

Becoming restless, I turn the MP3 player on, and turn the volume up to medium- high. My favorite song starts playing, “Everything I ask For”, by The Maine, my favorite band, hands down. The music calms me down. My mother’s voice and brother’s music fade out. Finally, I can look at my math problems, and am able to concentrate on them.

We all know that music is a universal thing. It can help us as humans in so many ways. We can become best friends because we both love alternative, we can bond at our favorite band’s concert, and we can even do better at work or school because the music calms us down and helps us relax. For some of us music lovers, music is the one thing that can relieve our stresses.

I am one of those people. Music has a power over me that connects me to what I’m doing, and helps me concentrate. I’m not saying everyone is able to listen to music while doing homework or a project, because it does count as multitasking. I’m no medical professional either, so I can’t tell you that you’ll get smarter if you listen to music. All I know is that music helps me focus, and forget my other problems when I need to do something. And if it works for one teenage girl, maybe it’ll work for some college kid trying to study for finals with a partying room mate, or a jock who needs to ace that test to play in the big game. And I hope it does work for some other teens, because music, no matter what kind, is something we can all connect to.