Music’s role in invigorating life is an undoubtful trait of society, as it is the voice of the world. Music surrounds us, it connects us, it teaches us, it is us as much as we are it, and without it, our sense of expression would be vastly silenced.

Music however can be limited by standards in life that confine music so that other systems within our world can progress and be conducted upon their own accord, but music is a powerful force, and it’s almost impossible to withhold it completely. So how does music work with school, specifically, how does the everyday student carry on with their musical interests while being held within a building that hopes to diminish the freedom of music, as to allow a smoother conduction of school functions?

After talking to seniors Zack Sydenstricker and Nick Cicciarelli, they covered their beginnings and ends of high school and how music played a role along their path towards graduating.

Starting with freshman year, both Sydenstricker and Cicciarelli offered similar perspectives on how they started off adjusting to music in school.

“I mean it was easier because of middle school. Not having a phone until you reach a certain age plus the same rule for music in high school being in middle school, I don’t think it was initially that hard to not listen to music in high school,” said Sydenstricker.

“I really didn’t care that much at first. I just kind of listened whenever I could but never when I knew I was in areas I wasn’t supposed to,” said Ciccarelli.

Now that seniors ready to graduate from BHS, their current perspectives show a shift from their formers, but also a sense of regard to their past stances on music in school.

“I listen to music in school more to drown out other people. It doesn’t stand out as much in school; it’s more of a background. I don’t’ really turn away from it because of school. I don’t really care about the setting,” Sydenstricker said.

“Music is just a way for me to get through the day. Obviously, I don’t want to get in trouble because I’m listening to music in school, but sometimes it just helps to put my earbuds in and focus on the music I’m listening too,” Ciccarelli said.

More for coping, for drowning out the commotion that is school, school’s value of expression is underlined by the tool that it provides to so many, to allow a feeling of relief during a time where individuals are thinking about their impending futures, to think about what awaits them.

The clash between music and school is a battle that at its base level, is a battel of commotion and order. Two forces that operate on different standards, music with expression, aid and a spree of other positive factors, and school with the duty of teaching the children of the world, to properly inform and structure the students of today so that they may go into the world more prepared than they would have been without school.

The power the two forces hold within our current society is on a heightened scale, but when the two move hand in hand, when one can appease the stress of the other, and vice versa, one can silence the commotion that occurs via the other’s presence.