In the past year of her life, almost 100 hours of senior Olivia Rainey’s time has been strictly devoted to one activity:
Listening to her favorite band, blink-182.
“My favorite song by blink-182 would definitely be The Rock Show,” Olivia said. “It’s my most listened-to song of all time. I have 5953 minutes listened to [blink-182], which is still probably not as much as I want; I didn’t really even get into them until about halfway through last year.”
Olivia’s love for bands like blink-182 was cemented in her future at a young age. Born and raised by musicians like Bon Jovi, Nirvana, and Def Leppard, Olivia was exposed to the world of rock music by her parents when she was only a little kid, providing her with a foundation of musical taste that she has further developed over the years.
“Primarily, I listen to rock, punk-rock, and rock and roll, so pretty much any variety of rock is my favorite,” Olivia said. “I’ve always been exposed to a variety of music from my parents, and I grew up listening to a lot of 80’s rock and roll because [my parents] were really big fans of that type of music. That’s kind of what I’ve based my music listening off of and what I’ve always been interested in.”
With a summer itinerary full of tickets to some of her long-awaited concerts—such as The Offspring and Journey—Olivia has been using rock music as a way to tackle other aspects of her life, such as her education, long before school gets out. By listening to music, she has been able to diminish any educational hindrances she had encountered in the past.
Her love for rock has extended past the boundaries of background noise and into the walls of high school, providing her with an academic liberation that helps her concentrate amidst easily intrusive interruptions.
“This year—my senior year—music has really been able to help me focus a lot on my work,” Olivia said. “[Listening to rock has helped me] to be able to focus better. I can drown out a lot of other distractions that might be in a school building or a classroom.”
Outside of school, rock music has also made its way into some of Olivia’s most treasured extra-curricular activities, most notably horseback riding.
A horseback rider since the first grade, listening to her carefully curated playlist whilst riding has strongly deepened the bond between Olivia and her horse, building a powerful connection with her four-hooved friend that she is forever grateful to have.
“My horse really likes listening to music; which is kind of silly, but he does,” Olivia said. “He has preferences for music, and it’s really weird. I listen to music while I ride [my horse], and I play it out loud so he can listen to it, too. And then when I’m taking care of him, I’ll play it sometimes and he’ll actually enjoy it.”
While Olivia and her horse share similar musical likings, she has found that her musical taste differs from that of a lot of her friends, a contrast that she is nevertheless thankful for. Having divergent song choice preferences from many of those around her has supplied her with a sense of originality that she prizes very much.
“I definitely like having a different music taste from a lot of my friends,” Olivia said. “I think that that’s something special that I have for myself, rather than just sharing the exact same thing with a lot of my friends. So I like that it helps me to be a little bit different.”
Now living out the final days of her senior year, Olivia is looking forward to building more friendships and continuing on past FHC with a firm foundation of support to accompany her as she begins her freshman year as a proud Michigan State Spartan this upcoming fall.
While leaving high school behind will certainly be a bittersweet experience for her, she is approaching this new chapter of her life with optimism for the future.
“I’m nervous to be more on my own next year,” Olivia said, “but I’m also really excited because I’ve been looking forward to going to Michigan State for a long time. And it’s going to be sad to leave a majority of my friends, but I do have a few that are going with me. And that’ll be there as a foundation for my friendships.”
