In this series, columnist Maya E. Shwayder discusses music around campus and in her life. Have other suggestions for songs? Leave a comment or send an e-mail to flyby@thecrimson.com.

Ah, the reading period playlist.

It must be the perfect combination of pump-me-up and tune-me-out. Stimulating, yet supremely ignorable, and able to keep you in your Lamont cubicle-studying-rut for as long as it takes. This is not an easy balance to come by. Distractions abound, not in the least messing around with your iTunes, while trying to create said inimitable playlist.

It would be presumptuous of me to try to prescribe that playlist for you. If we know anything about music, it is an incredibly personal entity. Instead, what I’ve done here is capture the different flavors of reading period; the stages our minds go through from the last day of classes to walking out of that last final, into the sun, triumphant.

Here’s your reading period, encapsulated.

Starting out:

• Help! –The Beatles: You didn’t go to enough lectures. Your TF has no clue who you are. You still haven’t turned your part of the study guide you’re writing with your friends. You haven’t cracked a book open since February. Whatever your problem, your gchat status is probably going to read “HALP!”

• I will Survive – Gloria Gaynor: …cause you will. No, really, you’ll survive. As long as you know how to love! And stay off Facebook for more than half an hour at a time.

• Living on a Prayer – Jon Bon Jovi: You gotta hooold ooon to what you got! Your best friend’s borrowed notes will prolly help a whole lot! You got each other, and that’s a lot of slidessssss, so give it a shot!

• Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – Monty Python’s Life of Brian/Spamalot: Need I say more? *wistful whistle*

Stress busters:

• Just Dance – Lady Gaga: Gonna be okay…daa daa doo doo do just daaance you’re not gonna faaaiiil…daa daa doo doo so just dance!

• Life is a Highway – Tom Cochrane: Just ride those Af-Am 10 notes all night long baby, and remember that 3 years or less from now, your grade in this class is probably not going to matter at all. Also if you prefer the Rascal Flatts version I’m totally judging you.

• No Stress – Laurent Wolf: It’s techno. It’s awesome. It talks about having sex instead of doing work. Let yourself live vicariously through this one.

Brain break: