Gauntlet Mixtape Vol. 20: Soundtrack to University Life

By: Daman Singh, Jocelyn Hadford, Ramiro Bustamante Torres, Ansharah Shakil, Dylan Carrasco, Valery Perez, Leonie O’Sullivan, Sheroog Kubur and Dianne Miranda, November 23 2023—

November is the midterm season. Late-night study sessions, caffeine-fuelled marathons and the light at the end of the tunnel – a well-deserved break. Here is the Gauntlet Mixtape Vol. 20: Soundtrack to University Life to romanticize your university life as a means to survive this thrilling yet nerve-wracking journey of madness that is academia.

DAMAN: VISUALS EDITOR

• “Heart Out” by The 1975
  • You’ve just put your docs on and have decided to stomp down the hallways.
• “your clothes” by Jane Remover
  • Sometimes all you need is some digital noise to zone out the slow walkers in the tunnels.
• “Change of the Season” by The Hi Tops
  • Local Calgary icons to make your day good.

JOCELYN: VOLUNTEER

• “Oxford Comma” by Vampire Weekend
  • Who cares about an Oxford comma? Me and my homies write CP style.
• “You’re Gonna Go Far” by Noah Kahan
  • For when you’re homesick and losing motivation.
• “ballad of a homeschooled girl” by Olivia Rodrigo
  • When the campus social anxiety is taking over. 

RAMIRO: LAYOUT EDITOR

• “Rip & Tear” by Mick Gordon
  • Nothing gets me through math like the soundtrack of a videogame where you’re fighting for your life.
• “Sinnerman” by Nina Simone
  • Miss Simone reminds me I cannot hide anywhere when I need to repent and finish an assignment.
• “Violin Partita no. 3 in E major: Prelude” by J.S. Bach played by Hilary Hahn
  • Sometimes you have to romanticize your degree to get through it, especially if there’s some course you would rather not take but they’re part of your requirements.

ANSHARAH: ARTS & SCIENCE EDITOR

• “Hard to Explain” by The Strokes
  • “I’ll miss the last bus, I’ll take the next train” is the best attitude to have when you’re late to class. 
• “Headphones Baby” by The Vaccines
  • This is the perfect song to block out everything else when you’re walking around campus with your headphones in.
• “Blue Monday” by New Order
  • The best song for Mondays.

DYLAN: VOLUNTEER

• “I Believe” by Caroline Polachek
  • The pumping synths of this song help re-energize my fried brain and makes me feel like I can conquer the day as I sing along, telling myself “I believe.”
• “It’s Okay To Cry” by SOPHIE
  • The pressure to be an “academic weapon” and “stay on that grind” can be a lot, so this song is for allowing yourself a few minutes of release. 
• “Space 1” by Nala Sinephro
  • Peaceful ambient music not only helps calm the chaos in my head, but also helps with those countless assigned readings.

VALERY: OPINIONS & HUMOUR EDITOR

• “Mr. Fox in the Fields” by Alexandre Desplat
  • The symphonies in this song give me so much serotonin in such dark times.
• “The Shire” by Howard Shore
  • I’m a big LOTR fan and it’s the only thing that still gives me a will to live during these hard academic times.
• “Dawn – From ‘Pride & Prejudice’ Soundtrack” by Dario Marianelli, Jean-Yves Thibaudet
  • By this point, you guys can probably tell that I rely heavily on nostalgia to carry me through.

LEONIE: ARTS & SCIENCE ASSISTANT

• “Star” by Oliver Tree
  • This song provides some much-needed mid-semester reassurance. Just imagine he is singing it to you (lol). 
• “Out Of The Woods (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift
  • The lyrics “Are we out of the woods? Are we in the clear yet?” A perfect analogy for getting through midterms.
• “Getaway Car” by Taylor Swift
  • Fantasize about leaving all your problems and exams behind in a getaway car. 

SHEROOG: SUMMER CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

• “Hard Out Here.” by Raye
  • Raye was right. It is hard out here but we will bounce back. 
• “Outta My Mind” by cholothagod
  • I am mildly out of my mind during this time of year but I still have time to have fun. 
• “Time Is Running Out” by Muse
  • Even thought it may feel like your time is running out, you still have enough time to bump this banger. 

DIANNE: VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR

• “Knucklehead/ Happy Rain” by Jeffrey Lewis
  • The perfect repetition of chords and the background noise of rain somehow switches my brain to turn into reading mode. 
• “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” by Deftones
  • Indeed please let me get what I want—to understand the content and pass.
• “Hasta la Raiz” by Natalia Lafourcade
  • I struggle studying with music so classical music or songs in a language I do not understand are my go-tos. This song especially gives the emotion that I am indeed flying away from something (studying) and that these late-night studying are one of the things I am going through that can only make me stronger.