Around three years ago, I left college and I didn’t know when or if I would ever go back. But low and behold, here I am during the weirdest in-person semester ever (thank you COVID-19!), jumping on the good ol’ college train again.

Like so many others, I’m headed back to school this month and it has been a trip. I feel so fortunate to be able to relatively safely pursue an in-person education. But being around so many people again, and studying again, it’s a lot. As with most big moments in my life, I’ve been leaning on some music. So here’s my back to school playlist, fall 2021 edition. We’ve got some tunes to get motivated to, some tunes to mope in the corner to, and some tunes that just struck my fancy during this particular period. School is hard, and amazing, and at least for me, feeling excitingly transformational right now. That kind of experience deserves a great soundtrack, so here’s mine.