Syncopated beats flow through your head and open the doorway to harmony, as you bump and shove through the mass of teenagers. Your mind just fills with the lyrics of the song, and the world around you pauses in a moment of tranquility.

My ear buds are constantly in, and, disregarding the warning on my phone, is always on full blast. Music is my escape, my paradise, my utopia. As Marilyn Manson said, “Music is the strongest form of magic.”

You almost become invisible, but not the bad kind. It’s the kind of invisible where you feel nothing but pure bliss and the world around you actually starts to tune in. Without that feeling, you’re just walking through chaos all the time.

That’s why I always fuss at teachers that make me take my ear buds out or roll my eyes when they say you can’t multitask. If it doesn’t exist, why is it even a word?

Countless researchers have said how listening to music causes you to loose focus. For instance, a study done recently at the University of Wales tested the differences between normal background noise, such as people talking, and listening to music. They filled two different rooms full of students under one of these conditions, and concluded that there was no difference, that background noise is just as distracting as music.

As teenagers we have to deal with background noise all the time, such as when we’re taking a test and people around you are whispering to each other. You could walk out your classroom door to a ton of background noise, and I bet you’d have your headphones in. So what’s the difference between listening to music and hearing those annoying whispers?

I can’t concentrate without music, and it’s not a simple way for me to ignore lectures, as boring as they are, but simply a way to enter my peaceful world where everything is perfect. Where problems and emotions like pain, sorrow, or misery no longer exist.

And sure, you’ll probably hear the phrase, “Welcome back to reality” a lot. I know I do, and it’s not always good to disconnect yourself from life, but it is comforting. Consider it a momentary pause, like an intermission while watching a movie, a chance to get comfortable and get some more popcorn, so that when you click play, your problems are forgotten just long enough to finish the movie.

Everyone has their own reason for listening to music, and of course their favorite type of music, but let’s face it — we all listen to music to escape. To break out of the stress, pain, or even the tight schedule of life.

Music is magic, because it does what not many things can. It creates a new world, one which you will always love to be in and will always return to without a second thought. Even through the gossiping crowd in the narrow hallways of school.