How Music Tuned My Mind Right - Essay Example

(Project (Day Month An Essay from Personal Experience How Music Tuned my Mind Right I sighed as I listlessly turned yet another page of my Algebra 1 textbook, completely oblivious to Mr. Williams’ droning about cyclic equations. Mr. Williams had said that we will be starting a new exercise that day. After a half an hour of lecture, our teacher instructed us to try and solve one problem from the book and approach him in case of ambiguities. Since I hadn’t done much in the last exercise, so I wasn’t expecting any brainwave in this one either. With a hopeless heart, I picked up my pencil and copied the problem from my book. I jotted down the question clearly and neatly. I happen to have a very good handwriting, too bad it never helped me in getting good grades when it came to Algebra. I looked around to see a whole lot of people were busy talking and laughing. Some were hard at work and some were simply copying stuff from the others. Thinking that I should also get to work now, I turned my attention to the textbook. I turned the book few pages back to look up some pointers on cyclic equations. Sitting right behind me, Kimberly and Amy were comparing notes about how to best avoid split ends in hair. I tugged at my ponytail, groaning inwardly at their frizzy texture. Suddenly, I realized I had been staring at the same page for past ten minutes, contemplating uselessly on hair care. Bracing myself, I got back to work and resolved not to get distracted again. To my surprise, the first few steps of the problem went well but halfway through I found myself stuck again. Mike, from the other row, chose the moment to disrupt the class with his famous imitation of buzzing bees. Fuming inwardly, I tried to concentrate but to no avail. I ended up spending another five minutes making tiny flowers around the page number and a face right above the Exercise heading. “This looks better now”, I thought looking at the page number. I looked around to find a completely engrossed Hannah, sitting next to me, had solved the problem and was already jotting down the next one. I felt the usual wave of frustration building up inside me at the difficult nature of this subject. Irritated with my lack of concentration, I compared my work with Hannah’s and learnt that the reason I was stuck with very wrong looking values was because I had made a few dumb mistakes. Taking the lead from her, I set about correcting my work. I was confident that I will be able to solve it then. Hannah was kind enough to explain the equation functions to me. Patiently bearing my occasional spacing out due to noise distractions in the classroom, she helped me through the whole problem. At the end of the session, Mr. Williams gave all of us five problems on cyclic equations as an assignment (whose solutions he hinted were very long and were basically meant for practice) to be solved and returned to him by Monday. “Good day to all of you” said Mr. Williams as he left the classroom. I looked gloomily at my notes which reminded me how pathetic I was with the class exercise, if it weren’t for my best friend Hannah, I would have probably been stuck at the first step. Hannah had plans to visit her grandmother in Denver over the weekend. How in the world will I get through the assignment on my own? I could feel a huge headache coming up. I am Carol Brian, an 8th grader at the time of that incident in Springfield High. Every year, I managed to scrap enough good grades. Attending an Algebra class is no less than a headache to me. The grind wasn’t new though. I have always had trouble getting through Algebra, Calculus or in short any other subject which has something to do with calculations and numbers. In fact, if it weren’t for Mathematics, I would have a brilliant academic record. I was usually one of the favorite students of my language teachers but quite the opposite in other classes. I had been having trouble with Mathematics for quite a long time; part of me had learnt to live with it. As we moved on to higher classes, I could no longer avoid this problem. I needed good grades. I started giving majority of my time to Math subjects. I would spend countless hours practicing the hefty calculations and formulas. Hannah would help me out most of the times. When I was on my own, I would either get easily distracted or find myself stuck at a point. I was beginning to learn that hard work isn’t the only key to success. It felt like someone had changed the locks as far as Algebra was concerned. I found it increasingly difficult to concentrate. The reason I would get stuck in lengthy equations was not because I had little knowledge of Algebra, it was because it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to concentrate. If it were some other student they would have gone right ahead and consulted the subject teacher. But I didn’t have the nerve to approach Mr. Williams because for one, I knew he already had a bad impression of me as a student. And putting my problem to words somehow made it sound lamer. So, I avoided a confrontation with the teacher by all means. I had seen Hannah consulting Mr. Williams every time she had a problem in work, he would very patiently explain it to her. I on the other hand, hesitated that my questions about the subject will sound very elementary in nature. So at that time, I knew this assignment was going to be very challenging for me, given it was a particularly difficult exercise and I had to do the work on my own. I chose to study in the evening, when I was sure the house was somewhat empty. My brother would be at his baseball practice so no loud television; my mum busy with her office work and dad in his study. I closed the door to my room, took out my notes and the textbook. I started off with great determination. However two hours later, I had only solved one of the five problems and I wasn’t even sure if I had gotten it right. I felt that it was too much of a silence for me to work. I lost interest in my work since I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. The assignment had to be submitted by Monday so I had no choice but to write solutions, even if I do them wrong. This is how I got through yet another one of my pathetic attempts to make it through Algebra. We all turned our work to our teacher, as was due on Monday. I was glad that at least the ordeal was over, no matter how bad a grade I get, I was done with the assignment. However, I had a nagging feeling at the back of my mind, that this is the third time I was submitting an unsatisfactory work, not to mention the quizzes which weren’t exactly satisfactory. It could mean a very unpleasant confrontation with the teacher. As usual, I pushed the dire warning in my head aside since the next Algebra class wasn’t for another two days. On Thursday, Mr. Williams returned everyone’s assignments. He said that he hadn’t been strict in grading the assignment because he knew it was particularly a difficult one. He had given an A to those who had done at least two problems correctly and followed the right method in the remaining questions. He gave me my assignment and to my utter despair I had gotten a D despite the generous grading. Deciding never to look at it again, I shoved it deep down my bag pack. While we moved on to the next exercise, I sat staring at my book, too distressed to work. I had started hating the subject. Mr. Williams stopped by my desk, he looked stern. He instructed me to see him in the staffroom after the class ends. I nodded gloomily. I entered the staffroom apprehensive and uncertain of what would Mr. William say. Seeing my English instructor, Miss Katie sitting in the staffroom didn’t help. I didn’t want her to see my bad performance in Algebra when I was one of her favorites. Just as I had expected, Mr. Williams was seriously disappointed in me, he had the impression that I wasn’t paying attention to my work and needed to work hard. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I did work hard but somehow the lack of concentration had adversely affected my performance. I could tell that Miss Katie was very surprised and curious to know that why one of her best students was performing so badly in Algebra. Mr. Williams and Miss Katie exchanged notes on their observation regarding my academic performance. Then, she urged me to tell her the real problem. I found myself opening up to my English teacher that I wasn’t good with numbers and I always had difficulty concentrating on the problems. I told her that I always knew the right formulas and the methodology that is to be followed but I always made juvenile mistakes. Both of the teachers were very understanding. Miss Katie advised me that I should try listening to some music while I study Algebra next time. The idea was completely new to me. I found Miss Katie’s advice very peculiar in nature. I decided to give it a try. Since we had exams coming in about two weeks, so I thought it was a good time to set about improving my grasp on Algebra. Later in the evening, I looked into my drawers and fished out my forgotten portable Mp3 Player, which my dad had bought for me as a birthday present a year ago. I turned on to my favorite genre of music, pulling out the dog eared assignment from the depths of my bag, and finally started redoing it. From that day onwards, I found myself adjusting to the habit of listening to music while I would study Algebra. Music has an effect on one’s mood too. When I was feeling down because of one reason or the other, I would put on some Avril Lavigne music and get to the task at hand. It had a soothing effect on my current mood. I was fairly surprised by the effect of music on my concentration level. I unconsciously started making observations about how actually is the music helping me out. I learnt that when I was listening to a track, it became easier for me to count; I found my creativity and focus increasing. Studies show that while we enjoy music, our brain is processing and identifying each note and changes in the rhythm. The counting takes over that part of the mind which creates hindrance in creative thinking. The productive side becomes more active, thus increasing our ability of problem solving (Falconer). Previously, when I would get stuck at a point, I found myself very eager to leave the problem as it is and stop working. It was the most difficult thing for me to think on one point for a long time. But listening to music stimulated my mind, and it became increasingly easier and fun to work out the difficult parts of the problem. Some people are not very good in focusing and blocking the irrelevant noise in the work setting. The noise could be of people talking and laughing, cars passing by, and noise from the television or stereo. These sounds do not just create hindrance, but they provide a lead to a train of thoughts which serve as a big distraction. Studies show that if we have problem concentrating on our work due to the noise in the background, then listening to music positively affects one’s ability to block distracting noise. I was very much interested in finding out if others feel the same too. I asked my friends whether listening to music makes life easier while doing other activities too. One of my friends said that he loves to do online gaming and he can’t beat a team unless he is listening to Eminem. Music had a definite connection with his ability to stimulate his mind in playing strategic games. Everyone, more or less, had some communication with music and a certain activity. I was very curious to know how music had worked for Miss Katie, who had the same problem with Math in her school days as mine. She gave me a very detailed idea of how it worked for her. She said that when she was dealing with tricky equations, music gave her a strange confidence to make decisions purely based on intuition. She said that it relaxed her and diverted her attention from the idea that equations are difficult, which in turn allowed her subconscious abilities to surface. In my case also, it enabled me to block the outside. With headphones on, I felt like I was in a world of my own. It actually felt like being on a mission where you are confident and positive that you can make a difference to yourself. I could easily move about the tasks without any irrelevant actions and thoughts interrupting me. The notion of the role of music in reducing the stress level of mind seems completely justified in my case. Many researchers have studied the phenomena because of its interesting and intriguing nature. There have been many well publicized studies that worked on whether music actually increased productivity or was it a mere psychological illusion. The studies have coined the productive effect of music as the “Mozart effect” (Seddon). The term was coined after a sample of college students was tested and they performed better while listening to classical music, particularly in solving mathematical problems (Seddon). I always had a knack for sketching and writing. Those who sketch or write know that these activities require a certain mood. If that particular mood is capitalized then one can create wonders. I thought that I should listen to some inspirational symphonies while I write. Gradually, I refined my selection of music. I understood that while doing a creative task listening to a song with intelligent lyrics helped the most. Similarly, I found out that there were few symphonies that actually lead to inspiration. The reason that I came to know so much about how best I can stimulate my mind was because Miss Katie had advised me to write down exactly what happens to me in the classroom and at home when I try to study Algebra. She also instructed me to write a SWOT Analysis of myself, which at that time I didn’t know what it was all about. She very kindly explained to me that the term SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. And she gave me an idea about what each of them is. She said that once I understood what are my problems and what are my strengths then it will become easier for me to devise ways to overcome them. I made such an analysis in my journal. I analyzed my strengths and weaknesses. I jotted down what opportunities do I have given my talents and what is my potential. I also listed down the things that I feared most. Seeing all of it on the paper gave me a sense of accomplishment. I worked out connections between my strengths and opportunities and felt less confused. I identified concentrating on Algebra as my weakness and constant hard work as my strength. I listed leveraging my concentration with things like music under the heading of opportunity. Suddenly, studying mathematics didn’t feel so fearsome anymore. I shared it with my teacher. She said that I should keep updating the analysis and keep it safe with me. I learnt that though music didn’t do immediate miraculous things to my aptitude in Algebra, but I did feel good and more relaxed. I made immense improvement as far as concentration on my work was concerned. Listening to my favorite song on repeat made working on the same problem again and again a lot more fun and easier. I still needed my friend’s assistance and my teacher’s help but I could see myself improving. Most of all, for the first time in my life, I actually started enjoying Algebra. I found out that music helped in blocking the noise outside and I could feel my mind relaxing. I usually tuned into faster tracks because they somehow kept me feeling ambitious and on edge while I worked out the solutions. Even though the improvements I made were slow but I was great full to my teacher for giving me this peculiar and absolutely amazing advice. The whole experience left me with two things. Firstly, I learned that if we have some problems then we should speak up and approach someone who can help us. The first step to improvement is acknowledging that you have a problem, the solution then comes easy. Secondly, I was fairly intrigued by the correlation between Music and Mathematics. The research about their correlation also helped me in finding that almost everybody has a connection with music. Mr. Williams was kind enough to ask me frequently about my progress with Algebra. He recommended me websites and reference books to go through so that I can strengthen my concepts. He was surprised that I didn’t approach him with my problem. He evaluated my performance in the class and told me that I had the right idea about Algebra and my technique was fine but that I needed to have a confidence in what I did. Few assignments later, he appreciated that I was getting a grip on the tougher problems. He was positive that I could do well in exams only if I keep practicing as much as I can. I was immensely grateful to Miss Katie for her timely advice. I started enjoying the time I spent studying Algebra while listening to music. Sometimes, I would spend hours at work without realizing it, which at the end proved to be very fruitful. Learning is a never ending process in everyone’s life. My school experience with Mathematics taught me that dealing with challenging tasks brings out the best of us. I used to hate calculations, that was because I couldn’t do them right. But once I got the hang of the concepts, that’s when I truly started enjoying my work almost as much as I enjoyed language and writing. Hard work really is the key to success. But if the task at hand is complex in nature, then you need to clear your mind and you need to have a confidence in yourself. Works Cited Falconer, Erin. "Focus Better by Listening to Music". Pick the Brain Grow Yourself ,2008 Seddon, Mike. “Can Listening to Music Help Us Work Better?” ArticlesBase 30 October 2006. Accessed on 2 March, 2011 from http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/can-listening-to-music-help-us-work-better-68598.html Read More