As I sit here on campus, listening to the Ramones and staring at the giant pen in the quad, I can’t help but think, what would life be like without music?

What would life be like without jamming to the new Drizzy mixtape or rocking out to some classic Journey in the car? Ladies, how much shorter would it take us to get ready without having to find just the right tune to put our mascara on to? Guys, how else would you look cool cruising through campus with your windows down without blasting your favorite rap, indie or alt jam?

I can’t think of a time throughout my day when I don’t listen to music. We all have a soundtrack to our lives, whether your preference in music is metal rock or bubblegum pop. I’ve personally listened to J. Cole, Marvin Gay, Miles Davis, AC/DC, and Florence and the Machine while writing this.

People listen to music in the shower, while getting dressed, on their way to work, while they’re working – the list goes on and on, all the way until we lay our heads down on our fluffy pillows. Some of us even continue to listen to a soft lullaby or the gentle crushing of the waves as we lay our heads down to get our beauty rest before that 8 a.m. exam.

Music has the power to excite, calm and even inspire us in one way or another. I’d be shocked to find someone who disliked music as a whole or wasn’t touched by musical genius at some point in his or her life.

What would nightlife be like at clubs without that fist pumping DJ Khaled tune pounding the speakers? What song would we puff our smoke rings out to at our usual hookah bar? How many of us would not have been conceived without Marvin Gaye?

What would we do over the summer without music festivals such as Carolina Rebellion, Bonnaroo, Firefly or Coachella?

There wouldn’t be symphony halls filled to hear the music of great classical composers such as Chopin, Bach or Yo-Yo Ma.

No vinyls, cassettes or CDs. No Pandora, iTunes or Spotify. Goodbye Grammys, Billboard Music Awards, MTV VMAs, AMAs and CMAs.

John Travolta would have never mispronounced Idina Menzel at the Oscars. Justin Timberlake wouldn’t have “exposed” Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl. There wouldn’t be a “Biggie vs. Tupac” debate. Little girls everywhere would not be able to “Let It Go.”

Would there be the moonwalk, twerking, the Charleston or Dougie? Iggy Azalea might have stayed in Australia and Justin Bieber in Canada.

I say all this to merely stress the importance of not taking music for granted. It is a gift from whatever God you may or may not worship. It has given us legends such as Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Beyoncé.

I know I thank the music gods every day, and I will continue to thank them. I will continue to kill my cellular data listening to Spotify, and will carry on depleting the gigabytes on my iPod downloading hundreds of songs until I die.

Appreciate the music and the geniuses who created it.