The Final Pacebook (Mr. Pace)

5/25/2025

"This is the end, beautiful friend." These words, crooned by the late, enigmatic Jim Morrison, introduce The Doors' 10 minute ominous opus "The End." Since we began the year with a prompt about music, I thought we would end with one, as well.

I would like you to create a "mixtape" for your high school experience, selecting one track to represent each of the four years, and then justifying why you selected the songs you did. I look forward to hearing about your soundtracks.

22 Comments

Emylee Perkins

5/25/2025 01:36:09 pm

For freshman year, the song I'm choosing is "Easy Breezy" by Kiana Lede because my older sister and her interests inspired my music taste. I always listened to her songs and thought they were really cool. Sophomore year would have to be "Phantom Feelings" by Artemis Orion & swablu. This is because in the period after COVID-19 I started to develop my own music taste based on nostalgia for Seattle, and lofi was really popular during that time. For the third song, I am choosing "Emily I'm Sorry" by boygenius because I feel like that year was super dramatic. There were also a lot of interesting themes of history and melancholy in school that year. This year my song is ABSOLUTELY "Vacation Bible School" by Ayesha Erotica. Why? I couldn't tell you, but if you know me and what's going on currently for me it makes sense. You can listen to it and find out how fire it is. My guilty pleasure is pink glittery technopop.

Kennedi Reagan

5/25/2025 05:42:11 pm

I agree, Junior year was rough and dramatic. I’m glad we got close that year, and I find that this songs fits perfectly!

Emylee Perkins

5/26/2025 11:26:35 am

I am also glad we got close! It is always good to surround yourself with others who love you during tough times. There is a lot of great opportunity for support and growth in high school and onward!

Kennedi Reagan

5/25/2025 05:40:40 pm

Freshman: Take It Easy by Surfaces
The reason I chose this song is because when I first got into high school, I was really stressed about friends, especially losing my middle school friends. I did lose the majority of my middle school friends, but I also found a big group of people who wanted me to be with them and hang out with them. I’m so very grateful for these people who took me in. Also, with this year, I felt like the schoolwork itself was relatively easy and it was a chill laid-back school year for me.
Sophomore: Take Me Where You Go by Fulton Lee
Like freshman year, my sophomore year was again pretty full of friends, I had experienced a few challenges and problems at this point in my life But for the most part, this is my easiest schooling year and my biggest friendship year.
Junior: exhale by Sabrina Carpenter
Junior year was by far my hardest. I had lost my first ever boyfriend, was experiencing problems and difficulties with other friends, and school was very heavily on my mind. Starting second semester, I broke my knee and I felt a lot of pressure, and wanted to drop out completely. I felt very alone and depressed, and just needed a break.
Senior: Put Your Records On Corinne Bailey Rae
This last year for me has been exciting to say the least. I have found some of the truest friends you could find, worked incredibly hard on my work, and finally don’t give a crap what people think of me. I used to worry about what I looked like who I was around and Making sure I was close to the best. However, being in a smaller friend group finding people outside of the school, and making sure that I’m learning for me and not for others Helped me immensely maturity wise. I’m very grateful for all four years of high school and I know I’ve learned a lot both with friends, educationally, and mentally. If I didn’t have these four years, I wouldn’t feel ready to grow into the world.

Emylee Perkins

5/25/2025 06:48:16 pm

Junior year was definitely rough. I am so glad that things are better for you now! I only wish that you, I, and others were all a lot closer for a lot longer. However, I am immensely grateful for all of the bonding and connections that I have discovered this year, and I have gotten close with people I had never expected.

Megan Aiello

5/28/2025 10:30:32 am

I also agree that junior year was really hard. I think freshman year was the hardest for me.

Nicolas Sessions

5/26/2025 03:22:30 pm

I'm glad you pulled through and made it and never gave up :)

Briella

5/26/2025 07:37:15 pm

I can say with absolute certainty that I have had one constant this four years, and she happens to be the best thing I got out of high school! Thanks for being there in the highs and lows, and taking turns having mental breakdowns. You have affected every part of my life, including my music taste. I'm proud of who you've become, and exited to see the great things I know you are going to do! Love you girl <3!

Mariah

5/26/2025 09:22:44 pm

Not giving a crap what people think during senior year is so valid, because I was really trying to put that in my mindset as well. I'm never going to see these people again so I might as well do whatever I want.

Daniel Davidson

5/26/2025 11:09:02 pm

I think, not caring what other people think, has been the most important lesson I've learned this year. I need to be happy for me, on account of me, for my benefit. Then I can benefit others as a wonderful side, well, benefit. :D Love you, Kenna. <3

Brylee

5/26/2025 04:34:59 pm

Freshman Year: Feeling Good by Michael Buble
I chose this song because when I first started high school. I was ready for it. I was excited to have a good time and enjoy myself. It was like a new day with the potential of it all.
Sophomore Year:Something Big by Shawn Mendes
I chose this song because school was still really fun at this time. I had high hopes for myself and my grades like something big was about to happen. I really pushed myself to do my best this year and kept my spirits up.
Junior Year: Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
This was the year after my sister graduated. This was probably the hardest year, before this year I didn't hang out with a bunch of people and now that my sister had gone to college I didn't have anyone to hang out with or ask for help when I needed it. I felt a lot more alone on this lonely road.
Senior Year: Tic Toc by Keisha
This year has definitely more eventful. I have been hanging out with my friends a lot more and it has definitely felt like a party. I have made so many fun memories.

Nicolas Sessions

5/26/2025 08:13:52 pm

Dude I really I like your use of boulevard of broken dreams it really was a rough year I related to the loneliness during it. I’m glad we made it through.

Mariah

5/26/2025 09:21:20 pm

Boulevard of Broken Dreams is such a good song but honestly its so accurate for Junior year because my sister had graduated too so everything definitely felt weird.

Megan Aiello

5/28/2025 10:29:16 am

I also agree that those songs a great pick and they share a good message about our current events and understanding.

Nicolas Sessions

5/26/2025 08:11:11 pm

I really like this prompt. I love music and it really helped me through high school.

Freshman: paradise by Stick Figure.
I chose this song for a couple reasons. Firstly, it was my freshman year that I got into Reggae music. It seemed fitting that as I got into a new dynamic of living that I also got into a new style of music. The song Paradise talks a person hoping to find where they fit and belong in the a tumultuous and confusing world, it is a message of also reaching out for people to help them find their paradise. I feel like this easily relates to my experience in my freshmen year as I was thrown into a new world of new teachers and peers, it was different and I spend a lot of the year trying to find where I fit in the mix and finding who my friends were and how to continue through this new place.

Sophomore: Pass the Dutchie Musical Youth
I want to be clear I have never done weed and will never do weed but this song relates to my experience in Sophomore year. It was a very relaxed year, I didn’t feel very stressed out and just had a blast. Like the happy tune of the song I was bumping through the year with no worries . I was friends with everyone and had fun with lots of people that year.

Junior: November Rain by GnR
This is a song I listened to a lot during my junior year. This was an extremely hard year for me. I experienced my first break up and a ton of loneliness. During that timeframe I lost a lot of confidence and self esteem and had a lot of anxiety issues. I am really happy that with this song and work I was able to work past it and get back to my old self. On top of those struggles I had to work through a very challenging year of school with Econ,speech, chemistry, Braswells English, and taking on the role of Tevye I had to work really really hard and stay up really long nights. I remember walking at night listening to this song to give myself hope for good things ahead. Its message is about a relationship but I took it as a message for my whole life. That even though my life was dark at this time I needed to “never mind the darkness, [I] still can find a way, cause nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain.” All of my hard won’t last forever and that song helped remind me of that.

Senior: Forever Young by Alphaville
This song perfectly describes my emotions as I have gone through my senior year. As I get to the end, I think of how many things I still want to do and I mourn the ending of my youth. I want to be forever young and be able to experience all of the things I still haven’t done. I am realizing how much being younger really was and how much more simple things were then.

Daniel Davidson

5/26/2025 10:46:17 pm

Nicolas, my friend. You could not have put it better. I appreciate you telling your story, and Forever Young means just that to me, too. :)

Mariah

5/26/2025 09:19:10 pm

Freshman Year: Welcome to the Show by Cody Johnson
Freshman year was really fun for me, but going into it, I had no ida what to expect. I feel like this song sums up the feelings of the first year of high school pretty well because it says "Welcome to the show, welcome to the home of the world's biggest rodeo" which pretty accurately describes what the highs school experience is -- a rodeo.

Sophomore year: Take It Easy by Eagles
This year was definitely the easiest for me, I had gotten the hang of high school, my classes weren't super hard, I knew everyone and I honestly barely remember anything from that year because it felt like I just existed. I had zero stress or drama and life was just a breeze.

Junior Year: The Kids Aren't Alright the Offspring
Junior year came with a load of homework from advanced classes, stress of college planning, and also I joined multiple new extracurriculars. I was stressed out a lot this year and I was constantly up until one or two in the morning doing homework after getting back form sports so I was very sleep deprived. All of my friends were dealing with the same things too, but we were all just sick of school and this is when a lot of people starting dropping like flies and dropped out.

Senior Year: Little Girls from Annie
Specifically the chorus where it says "locked in a cage with all the rats" and also where Miss Hannigan yells, "get me out of here!" While I partially mean this as a joke, it's also a little bit true and I know we all felt this way. Senior year was a lot of fun but also a little bit stressful and also boring because I have no really classes, so I'm definitely excited to graduate.

Chanci Phillips

5/28/2025 11:54:08 am

Senior year was so stressful and even felt like being "locked in a cage with all the rats". With Senior Project first semester and end of the year graduation stuff, I am also very excited to graduate.

Daniel Davidson

5/26/2025 11:07:47 pm

Freshman: Bushes of Love by Bad Lip Reading

This is a Bad Lip Reading classic. I had to put it as my freshman year, because of the lighthearted, random, goofy nature of the song. I love this song, but particularly had fun with it 8th grade and Freshman years. My freshman year was goofy, and fun. It had problems, in some ways it was even the worst year- the transition from Fernwaters was really hard for me. But, even so, I can look back on that time with great retrospective fondness.

Sophomore: Go Easy On Me by Adele

Sophomore year was probably, in most areas, my hardest year. Academically, I felt overwhelmed, and emotionally, spiritually, etc. even socially, I was a wreck. Playing Will in the play was good for me, because he got to yell a lot, and I've never really yelled before, and I've never yelled since, but at that time, it was a kind of nice use of energy, trying to play that character. Putting my energy towards that during that hard time was healing. I needed people to Go Easy On Me that year.

Junior: Forever Young by Alphaville

I've got to jump the gun here. I know Nic put Forever Young as his Senior song, but I think in my story, it fits better as my Junior song. I really found myself this year. It was difficult getting through the courseload, sure. But, especially in Braswell's class, I felt like I was sharpened as a person-- refined, sort of. And I felt like I could make that last Forever.

Senior Year: Wait for Me from Hadestown

I haven't talked with many people about this, but, for many deeply personal reasons I will not go into here, the summer between my Junior and Senior year left a traumatic and awful, deep-felt impact on me. I cannot go into all that went down, but, let me just say, getting to play Orpheus in the play was transforming, and healing. I was changed permanently for the better by that character. Even just the chance to feel like I'd regained some normalcy, by hanging out in the Odd Fellows setting, and being a goofball once again with my drama friends, was more restorative than you could ever know. I needed the chance to return to what felt like normal. Now, Orpheus is a friend of mine. I understand his character, and for me, what he did, was yes, tragic, but beautiful. I want to see the world the way he did at first. I NEED to. That type of living is who I want to be! And I understand what happened to him. So much. He got hurt. And, made such a mortal, human mistake. I can't begrudge him for being human. I love him for it. So, in a way, I love me for it. Orpheus doesn't get the chance to overcome his hurt. But I do. I'm grateful for the song Wait for Me, because now it is the song I sing to my future. I get to sing it to all the friends I will meet along the way, in future days. I get to continue to sing it the the beautiful, kind, caring people, who surround me now. THATS ALL OF YOU GUYS. I'm so grateful for you all, "waiting for me" to get out of my funk, and kind of restore back into who I am. Who I know myself to be. Now, I get to sing it to the people of Singapore and Malaysia, with the same vigor and desperation I sang it with in the play. I get to sing it to my God.

"Wait for me. I'm coming./
Wait, I'm coming with you./
Wait for me. I'm coming, too/
I'm coming, too."

Thank you for going on this journey with me.

I love each one of you.

Thank you, Mr. Pace. For everything you've done, and every chance the play has given me to grow. I have loved every second of my life so far, brutal and heartless as some experiences were. I'm grateful to my God. I'm grateful for you, my friends. God be with you til we meet again.

Megan Aiello

5/28/2025 10:28:07 am

Freshman year- “We’re Alive” by Cavetown
I choose this song because the verse says “It’s okay, we’re just scared”
I feel like I related to that a lot and had this song on repeat during this year because when I started high school I felt a little scared and didn’t know what to expect.

Sophomore year - “Ride” by Twenty One Pilots
I choose this song because it relates to the idea of following the path of high school and moving along to the next year.

Junior year - “What Would Do” by Strawberry Guy
This song has a spot in my heart during this year because during this time I started feeling tired of high school and burnt out. One of my best friends told me to listen to this song to help with these emotions and bring a positive outlook. The verse “What would I do without someone like you?”

Senior year- “Older” by Alec Benjamin
This song hits a spot where we are in our life now. It talks about not being a kid anymore and trying to find closure when packing up boxes and saying goodbye to friends.

Chanci Phillips

5/28/2025 11:51:42 am

I also find myself listening to songs that talk about not being a kid anymore and it feel like we are being shoved to the end.

Chanci Phillips

5/28/2025 11:48:16 am

The song for my freshman year is "Fine Line" by Harry Styles. I chose this song because I was at a point in my life where I didn't know who I was or who I wanted to be and this song helped me distinguish myself. My sophomore year was all about Mac Miller and the song that stuck the most was "Small Worlds". This song talks about how love and human connections can be complicated. Junior year's song is "Snow on The Bluff" by Evening Elephants. This year, there was a lot of things going on in school and at home. A song that marked the ending of old friendships and beginnings of new ones. My final song is by Montell Fish, "Destroy Myself For You", is a song that has stuck with me since the beginning of High School. This song delves into giving too much of yourself to someone who doesn't care. I am someone who feels too much at once or nothing at all and with this song and artist, I feel heard through both perspectives.

The Final Pacebook (Mr. Pace)

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