With the first semester of the 2022-2023 school year coming to an end, students’ workload starts to pile up and the stress increases as grades are close to getting finalized. There are numerous ways students can relieve this stress, however, Bonita Vista High (BVH) students use music as a way to help reduce stress.

Junior Manuel Jurado is just one out of the many students who listens to music to understand themselves. It allows him to express his feelings and he also finds himself connected to the lyrics or rhythm of songs. 

“It [music] helps me cope. It also helps emphasize what I am feeling at the moment,” Jurado said.

Jurado further mentions that he uses music to cope with challenging times. For example, he recalls that during the COVID-19 pandemic, he looked towards music for comfort because he felt lonely. 

“Back in freshman year, I felt disconnected with the world. I felt like I was a nobody for a little bit, and that was hard. There was one day where I was scrolling through TikTok and I found a song. ‘Someone to You’. I connected to it for a while, so I was listening to it on a loop,” Jurardo said. 

Like Jurado, sophomore Michelle MacGaffey finds that music is her biggest form of expression, as music has a meaning that cannot be commonly expressed with words. Oftentimes, she makes a shared playlist with her friends who share common music tastes.

“I’ll listen to music with my friends or sometimes I’ll make a shared playlist. One of the reasons I enjoy listening to music so much is that it’s a good way for me to communicate with others,” MacGaffey said.

Creating music through playing instruments are also a big way for somes students to bond. Whether students listen to music or creates music through using instruments,  junior Cash Alexander believes that music allows students to interact with each other. 

“You can bond with each other. I like to talk about different music genres and that can help you cope and make new friends,” Alexander said. 

MacGaffey finds a deeper meaning with music and with finding new ways to interpret different songs. As it helps her through difficult situations, she acknowledges that music can be a really big part of people’s lives.

“Music is a form of expression and songs say a lot. They have a lot of deeper meanings, so finding a song that matches what you’re feeling can help. Music is a really big part of people’s lives in that sense,” MacGaffey said.

As for Jurardo, he reflects on the songs he listens to and connects to it though his interpretations of it. He mentions that he connects to a variety of songs from different genres.

“Songs have their own way of connecting to people. It’s all based on interpretation and I connect to many songs with different titles. One example would be “Someone to You,” for a little while I just connected to that song. But then after that, I kind of just started connecting to another piece,” Jurardo said.

As much as listening to music can be beneficial to the majority of BVH students, senior Christina Hiley finds interest in teaching piano. She further mentions that teaching an instrument can be enriching.