The song, written in the 60’s, is about a girl who is shy, but who is being encouraged to change in a way that brings out her true self. She is someone who hides her loneliness under her carefree personality, but in reality, she is not happy and does not need to continue feeling that way. In the first chorus, one of the lines is “Bring out all the love you hide and oh what a change there’d be.” My interpretation of this is that you don’t have to be an emotionless robot, and if you show your love and emotions, you could be so much happier. Another line, “don’t be so scared of changing and rearranging yourself”, really spoke to me for some reason. Everyone always says be yourself, but if you’re not content with who you are, you are allowed to change whatever you want. Or, if you want to do something just for fun that would make you happy or more confident (such as dye your hair, pierce your ears or get a tattoo) you should do it.

Aside from them being my favorite group, I have learned a lot from them as people and as a musician. Their “thing” is that they’re very kind and accepting people. I look up to them because they all come from different religious and cultural backgrounds, and yet they are closer than some families I know personally. The way they act towards each other and their fans is how I believe everyone should act. 

As a musician, I admire their techniques and way of writing and arranging. Music has been a part of my life since I was born, and after discovering Pentatonix, I learned about different aspects of music I didn’t know about before. I started figuring out how to arrange music by writing down what they were singing, and I can now hear things like harmonies and dissonance. They have inspired me to keep singing even after being rejected from different advanced ensembles, and even want to start my own acapella group.

The first book in this series is likely my favorite book. I remember reading it in middle school/freshman year and loving it. The book centers around light and dark magic and the difficulties one girl faces, but to me the more interesting and important part of the book was the history and background of the characters. I think this book really motivated me to like mystery and inspired me to want to learn about my family history, although I knew there would be no magic involved. Throughout the book, the main character, Ethan (who does not possess any magic) does everything he can to help Lena through her struggles with magic, family, and stress. I do not possess any magic abilities, but this kindness is something I look for in people that I associate myself with. I believe that it is paramount to be there for your friends and willing to help whenever it is needed. I always do my best to show people kindness, but this book inspired me to expect the same in return.

Throughout the entirety of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movies, The Avengers “assemble” their team and do what they can to save the universe. Their struggles to determine what is right and what is wrong within the group shows that no group of people is perfect, even one made up entirely of superheroes. The independent movies about each character show the individual struggles of each member and how they overcome it. Many of the struggles are real life ones, regarding mental health and relationship issues, not just something specific to a superhero. 

The way each movie is created and executed is the way I would want movies that I make to go. Film is another one of my hobbies and I admire the way the writers take each movie and link them together. The individual movies of different characters show their backstory, and then the bigger movies bring them all together in a way that makes sense to the audience.