Playlist for proficiency

LAUREN BRUMFIELD

Picture this: spring break is right around the corner. In order to have a week of freedom, however, you have to get past midterms. Campus changed drastically in the last week. Classes seem fuller than ever, and you are elbowing your way for desk space in the library.

The silent atmosphere of that third-floor desk cubicle in the library seems too quiet, but the eagerness for an “A” forces you to stay put. As a solution, you plug in your headphones and begin listening to the “My Top Rated” playlist on your iPod.

Before you know it, you have been “reading” the same page in your textbook for over ten minutes and you’re singing along to your favorite song, completely ignoring your studies. Seeing that you are not being as productive as you would like, you turn to plan B: turning on classical music.

You think to yourself, “I can’t sing along to a song with no words. Now I’ll study, right?” Wrong. Not only are you not studying, but the classical music is putting you to sleep.

Many well-intended students face scenarios like this all the time. But in order to do well on exams, one needs to study efficiently. That is where this article comes to the rescue. The list below is a complied list of study music that you maybe had not thought of to help you get through mid terms.

It can be a challenge to find music that is not overbearing, will not put you to sleep or have you embarrassingly humming in the library. Students need a stimulating background without distractions to retain information. To enhance concentration and stimulate learning, there may be benefits to listening to video game soundtracks while you work.

“Normally I’ll listen to Dave Matthews, Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes while I study, but I always end up doing more singing than studying. Just the other day I tried listening to a soundtrack from a video game, and I was actually really productive,” said Robin Brazier, a junior and geography major.

The music that plays in the background of a video game can provide a unique link to the emotions of not only the gamer, but the studier as well. Video game soundtracks are created to have a relaxing effect to keep the mind calm and alert under pressure.

So if you need a little extra help with studying for your midterms coming up, try working with the following songs playing in the background.