Students across the classrooms of Wilsonville High School often reach for their headphones to help keep them engaged during academic work. It can be easier to do something when you incorporate a fun aspect into it. An example of this would be listening to music while studying.

Studying can be boring and takes many hours out of the day whether it’s in school or while doing homework. Music can be a great way to relieve stress, and it creates a way to learn things the fun way. But does this habit actually sharpen the mind, or do we believe it does because we want it to?

Some classmates find listening to music while studying helps their performance, and they can prove it has no effect because their grades don’t suffer from it. Others can not relate to this and find music to be distracting and useless. It all depends on your own preference and what your mind is able to retain while multitasking. 

Junior Avery Novitsky says, “I don’t usually listen to music while I’m studying. Also, I don’t necessarily think music makes you smarter because I think when I’m studying personally, it’s harder to focus.”

One effective way music can help while studying is by connecting what you learned with background music aids. Also, music can enhance parts of the brain related to concentration and keep any distractions or stress away. By taking certain stress away from the equation it creates a calmer state of mind and makes test taking a lot simpler.

On the other hand, music could potentially damage the brain’s way of thinking while studying. It can be a lot for the brain to comprehend the information trying to be retained while listening to a whole other set of lyrics or complex rhythms. Studying requires an immense amount of attention so it’s important to note if your brain can grasp music while studying or not.

Senior Olivia Clark believes music to be a very helpful tool to have when studying and mentions, “I always listen to music when I’m studying, especially when I know it’s going to be for a long period of time. I feel like music helps me concentrate a lot, and I normally just listen to music that you would hear on the radio because if I play it quietly enough, I can concentrate without getting distracted.”