Shielded from the world
As I find myself among my fellow and equally stressed students in the library during the final exams, writing this column means I’ve reached a new level of Study Evasive Behavior (S.E.B). What then once again strikes me about the overworked and sleep-deprived students around me, is that at least half of them study while listening to music.
Sometimes even at such a loud volume that the soft ‘dumdumdum’ that sounds through their earbuds gets on my nerves. Wat intrigues me, however, is the question why? Why does a large majority of the students study with earbuds in? Why do I need a loud ‘drumdrumdrum’ sent through my ears before I can concentrate on this awfully boring philosophy book?
Indeed, even I cannot study without my earbuds. I get annoyed by the smallest sounds made by my fellow students. This ranges from my neighbor next to me who, with repressed rage towards his supervisor, writes his thesis by almost smashing his keyboard, to the lovely girl two rows down who is incapable of sitting still on that damned squeaky chair for more than a few seconds. That’s what you get when you put dozens of students together in a large room: the true nature of humanity reveals itself. They drive me to madness, but I need them. Without the social control provided by them, it doesn’t take long before I find myself lost on Netflix and oops, I watched four episodes of House of Cards again. In order not to get too annoyed by all the sounds my fellow students produce, I turn on music.
Music is produced with the intention to be listened to, but that’s not what I do, not attentively at least. Personally, I put on music to shield myself from the world. Am I so individualistic that I shut down the conversation before it even has a chance to start? The last time I consciously listened to music, absorbing the sounds, listening to the lyrics and felt what the artist wanted to convey, is a long time ago. So, if you’ll excuse me: I’m turning on some music and I’m going to listen to it — truly listen. Frouke de Schipper (24) is the winner of the Dutch Dance column writing contest, organized by Academic Forum and Univers. Her entry caught the jury’s attention because of its original approach and its sharp observations.
Frouke is a master’s student in Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence. By her own account, she has written so much that she could have filled six books. Nevertheless, this is her first publication. “Not counting my thesis, of course, but for some strange reason my supervisor was the only person interested in reading that.”
Frouke has no favorite musicians. “I always listen to the radio, quite boringly. Luckily I’m fine with being boring.”
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