Kiley Wellendorf | News Co-Editor

I grew up as a phantom of every person who ever surrounded me; I kicked it at the skate-park, I attended volleyball games dressed in Hawaiian gear, and I squished myself up against the gates as crowds pushed their way towards the lead singer of a band. My experience of life tumbled through so many different phases that I often found myself adding and subtracting the moments that stuck out to me the most. The ending never came out the same, and although the beginning started off different – I wanted to always take a picture of these moments and pray that they would last forever. There are a few moments that make up my existence, and while I’ll never be able to pin-point the times my heart sank to my feet or the moment I found myself speechless – these songs will always be able to bring me back.

01. Always Like This – Bombay Bicycle Club

I woke a few hours earlier than usual and struggled to come to terms with sleep as daylight began to creep its way in. I was surrounded by a handful of people who I had only known for a short while and would soon think of these individuals as ones who would show me the freedom that I have always envisioned for myself. I woke up to adrenaline pulsing through the room and found myself speeding to get ready as the hours towards the music festival began to dwindle and move towards us. My black skirt flowed in the wind as we walked across the city streets and our flash tattoos probably blinded everyone who walked in our sight. (Where was our background music?) Surrounded by thousands of other people, we were unable let go of the idea that we were living in a movie and were oblivious to everything that was around us. By the end of the night, we made friends with half the city and even found ourselves exploring the streets with dirty feet as make-up streamed down our faces. I lost my phone, unfortunately, but my spirit was lifted as we all laughed over moments that stuck out in the day and moments that skipped right past us.

02. Siren Song – Bat For Lashes

My freshman year’s Sundays were typically spent collecting our heaps of clothes and clearing everything out of our dorm room. Our door was temporary locked – shocking people who usually stopped by whenever they walked down our hall but keeping everyone away from the clutter that became our room. Taylor and I broke into this habit during January interim and usually spent the day talking about the night before or redesigning how we wanted our new home to appear. It’s crazy how Sunday’s give you a brief sigh of reflection; instead of clearing out our room this year, I often find myself traveling back to Carroll and spending the night at home. I always told myself that home would be Storm Lake this year, but lately I’ve been unable to get comfortable with staying in one place at the same time. Rearranging our room was pretty therapeutic last year, and I can’t even begin to describe how a simple change of layout can completely clear your head. It’s crazy.

03. Wake Me – Midnight Faces

When I was in high school, a majority of my time was spent sitting in the driver’s seat as my friends spilled their lives over McDonalds’ coffee and ice cream. I remember moving here and forcing myself to drive around because it gave me a sense of purpose and allowed me to become closer to the community. Over time, I’ve continued with this tradition and picked up some pretty interesting passengers along the way. I was lucky enough to find someone who shared so many similarities with me that we both found ourselves interrupting each other’s sentences before the story was over. This type of friendship was something that I had only dreamed about growing up, and it provided so much happiness when I was able to end the night with someone who cared enough to listen. Even though half of the time my sweatshirt was stained with mascara marks from rubbing my eyes from laughing so hard, I never found a reason to complain at the end of the night. Even though “driving around” is kind of a punchline in Carroll, I don’t think this will ever be habit I drop in the future.

04. I’m Not The Only One – Sam Smith

It was my car, so I didn’t expect you to drive even though you knew the last thing I wanted to do was be in control. Over the course of a few weeks you watched as my ideas spun out of control the moment you questioned what my intentions were. You saw me as the starry-eyed person I was growing up, and being my mom, you knew me so much better than I knew myself. You supported every idea that popped into my head and even encouraged me to move forward on adventures I was barely able to handle alone. But in that moment, every ounce of encouragement and independence I had shrank and dwindled right in front of us. You picked me up though, and somehow catered to the crater-size hole that made its way through my chest. I guess moms are always supposed to have bandages on them, and being a nurse, I wasn’t surprised by how easy you were able to make the pain go away.

Graphic by Krystal Schulte