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By Tom Kurtz
I’ve had a common struggle in dealing with homesickness as I’ve grown up. It was a steady burden when I was younger, and it never fully subsided when I spent periods of time away from home at the end of high school. Given this, I was wary of how this sentimental attitude would impede the beginning of my college experience.
Several months into the semester, I’m proud of how well I’ve avoided the negative effects of homesickness. I owe this to several remedies. I’ve established routines for my day-to-day schedules. I’ve gotten out on my bike and explored the city. I’ve connected with other freshmen and discussed our shared experiences. My favorite method of interacting with my nostalgia, however, is through music.
Music has an interesting dynamic with my memories. As with the rest of my generation, music has crept into every part of my life. Every walk to class, every car ride, and every social gathering is accompanied by music. Individual songs are paired with distinct memories from my past. While the memories alone fade into the distant past, the songs don’t change. They remain vivid, keeping the memories suspended in a mental journal of association.
But music isn’t the same as photographs or stories. It doesn’t provide a static image for me to look upon from the outside. As I revisit old songs, the memories of each new listen are layered above those from the past. My playlist becomes a window through which I revisit old memories and the remedy for the nostalgia which they carry.
As I look forward to the rest of my college experience, accepting what I no longer have and making fresh memories, music is my constant, helping me acknowledge my wistfulness and embrace the present.
Tom Kurtz is a McConnell Scholar in the class of 2027. He is studying political science on an applied politics track at the University of Louisville.