When thinking about transition, one of the first things that comes to mind is my music tastes. Before coming to Colgate and starting my college career, I was primarily interested in rap/hip-hop music. After my first year here, however, I started to fall in love with country music and even Taylor Swift. I did not care for T-Swift’s early music at all, and I certainly could not have cared less about her music in high school. When her albums Red and 1989 came out, however, I found myself absolutely transfixed with her music. So much so that I actually went to a Taylor Swift concert at MetLife Stadium over the summer with my girlfriend. 

As I continued to branch out into new music genres, I discovered EDM, or electric dance music. Although I was not a big fan of this music in high school, I have really started to enjoy it within the past couple of years. Specifically, I love tropical house music – a genre within the broader umbrella of EDM that usually has an upbeat tempo, with the lyrics of a famous popular song. This type of music reminds me of summer, hanging out with friends, going to the beach and just chilling. It also makes for great study music and for good vibes on Saturday afternoons.

Then there is my newfound love of country music. Maybe it is my southern roots or the fact that I go to school in rural New York, but I have really come to appreciate and love country music.  As a genre, I absolutely despised country music in high school. Only heavy metal was worse than country music. And yet, my musical tastes have changed since arriving to Colgate and now I can’t get enough country music in my life. Country music, like tropical house, makes me feel relaxed and reminds me of warm summer days hanging out with friends. Playing country music loud and driving up and down the country roads surrounding Colgate is a great feeling and a lot of fun. Whether it is Dierks Bentley or Eric Church, country music has won me over and is definitely underappreciated in upstate New York. As we approach the colder months at Colgate, I will listen to a lot more country music to make the frigid weather bearable. 

The last musical transition I will mention is that of Justin Bieber. When I was in high school, I was positive that every single guy in my school hated this dude for his girly music and his haircut. Although the haircut has not gotten any better, I have to admit that I am a huge fan of his new single, “What Do You Mean?” Its beat has traces of tropical house in it and is just an amazing feel-good song that is appropriate for just about any and every occasion. Surprisingly, I am actually looking forward to his new album if this is the type of music that we can come to expect from the Biebs in the future. 

College for me in large part has been a time to experience a lot of different music – oftentimes genres of music that I completely wrote off in high school.