I included this School project from my Junior year AP U.S. History because it included many aspects of my life that I love, and it was on a subject I’ve been excited to learn about ever since seeing ‘Hamilton’ in the 6th grade, the Revolutionary War. The project involved creating new lyrics for an existing pop song and then creating a music video to tell the story. The lyrics were to be written in the context of the American Revolution. This project resonated with me first because I was able to collaborate with two close friends, one who did the editing and music overlay, while my other friend and I wrote the lyrics and came up with scenes and props. Secondly the project touched on so many of my interests and passions; Creative Writing, Music, History, Performing arts, Guitar, Piano, My home and bedroom, my cat (Stinky), my friends, and Asheville. We did the filming shortly after Hurricane Helene both in the neighborhood where I’ve lived the past 8 years, and a mile away, in downtown Asheville. We chose Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club’, and set about writing a Revolutionary War song about the creation of a new nation. We had a lot of fun.

This project gave us a temporary escape from the heartbreak that was happening around us after Helene. By having the opportunity to look at historical events through a contemporary lens and having the creative freedom to use one of our favorite songs as a musical guideline, we were able to retain the historical information long after the project was due. We loved searching for the specific historical ‘evidence’ that is present throughout. In a way, this project is a microcosm, of how I see a liberal arts education: Learning that pulls together a large amount of information from many, sometimes conflicting, sources and makes it cohesive, memorable and more exciting when seen in the context of the relationship between all the parts, or a different historic or cultural structure.