The Mixtape

2003 – Circle of Life from The Lion King soundtrack

2007 – All Star by Smash Mouth

2014 – Wake Me Up by Aviici

My Mixtape Autobiography 2015 – Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey

(2003-present)
2019 – Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee
By Maximo Gutierrez
 Circle of Life All Star
2003 2007

When I was a baby, The Lion King was the first movie I ever watched. The iconic song that spawned all those memes and made Shrek a
To this day, it still remains one of my favorite movies of all time. All of cartoon superstar and meme lord. What kind of connection could I feel
the songs in the movie are some of the most iconic Disney songs of all to a song that has never really been taken seriously for a while?
time, but the one that sticks out to me the most is the number that
opens the movie. I will admit, when I was in my preschool years, and even before then, I
was in a Shrek craze. I bought the toys and games (or rather I would
As an infant, my best memories of this songs were when every time I make my parents buy them for me), I pretended to be him many times,
would watch it, I would get whichever adult was closest to me at the and I watched the movies so many times that I can now recite the entire
time to take me and lift me up just as Rafiki held up baby Simba in the first movie by heart.
movie at the same time. I would never get tired of it and neither did my
mother, father, or my Nana Marie. Looking back, the first iconic song of the first Shrek movie says a lot
about why I was obsessed with Shrek as a kid. It’s the reason why I still
Nowadays, I see this song a little differently. My Nana Marie on my love all of the Shrek movies (except for the third one, that one’s just
dad’s side of the family died when I was only 2. For some reason, I garbage). The core message of each movie is about Shrek finding people
never really felt an emotional connection to her except through the who accept him even though he’s a scary ogre and learning to accept
memories of my dad. It may have been that I was too young to himself.
remember the time I spent with her, but I don’t feel as sad about her
passing as I think I should feel. While I didn’t know it at the time, when I was enrolled in preschool, I
had been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. My parents also
The influence this movie had on my life, however, speaks volumes told me there was one teacher who preyed on this fact by doing things
about how much I value her. If she never bought the VHS for me, I that would make me angry and scream to sabotage my chances at a
wouldn’t have been exposed to such a beautiful compilation of images good education.
and music at such a young age. The beautiful way this movie pulls off its
art form have since led me to become a huge fan of animation in Learning this fact nowadays, I understand why I grew so attached to
general, and I now have a greater respect for the people who work hard Shrek. In many ways, I felt like Shrek, forced in a situation that denies
to create these stunning pieces of moving art for people to enjoy. me certain opportunities that others have because of something
different about me. Over the years, other people started seeing my
In another way, this opening song helped me to understand that life is a autism as less of a hindrance to my learning and more as an
beautiful cycle that will continue producing great individuals despite enhancement, and through that acceptance, I gained so many
the losses. I suppose this outlook helped me to understand why she opportunities and have been treated as fairly as other smart kids my
died and makes me feel comfortable about death as long as it is in age. I still feel uniquely me, but this acceptance has helped me to
balance with the births of new people who can make something that understand this better. I feel like an all-star now and I appreciate the
will last forever. Shrek movies better because of it.
 Wake Me Up Don’t Stop Believin'
2014
2015
I don’t necessarily recall this song really speaking to me in a special
way. It was just a country-pop song that would constantly play on the I had just entered seventh grade at St. Rose of Lima. It was overall a
radio, and I would constantly listen to it and sing it whenever I found new experience, as I had gone to public school all my life and this was
the opportunity. my first in in not only a private school, but one with a Catholic learning
curve. I was especially excited because I had joined the school’s Glee
Nowadays, the lyrics begin to speak to me about my nostalgia of the era club, and I wanted to display a talent I had been confident in for years.
between 2013 and 2015, where I would just listen to this and be
somewhat carefree. I had not yet entered middle school, so at that point By the time our first performance came around, I had been practicing
I was finishing up elementary school with a better understanding and with the club for about 3 months, perfecting what would become my
appreciation of concepts I learned about, but not yet the more mature first solo in the club. By the time a performance came around at the
and deep ones. Universal Studios Citywalk, I was ready as ever to show off my singing
capacity to the world.
What makes me understand the nostalgia of this song is the way the
lyrics deliver its message about being lost and being told to stay that As soon as we started the song “Don’t Stop Believin’” I was one of the 5
way, about going on a journey that feels like a dream and feeling you kids who took center stage. I remember as much as ever how I
have to wake up to see how your life has worked. delivered these lyrics:

For some reason, I feel those lyrics speak to me about the kind of Just a city boy
person I was when I would listen to the song. I was someone who had Born and raised in South Detroit
big dreams and endless opportunities, but it wasn’t until now that I He took the midnight train going anywhere
realized how much I’ve grown and how much I’ve learned as far as
obtaining those dreams and creating new ones. From then on, I continued to perfect my dance moves and singing
capacity, and it was the first step in allowing competitive and
recreational singing to be a big part of my life.
 Sunflower
2019

When I watched Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse in theaters in

December 2018, I knew it would become one of my all-time favorites. I
could gush about the breathtaking stylized animation, the perfectly
realized characters, the fun and imaginative concepts, and the powerful
story for hours, but I especially appreciated the soundtrack of the
movie. I’m not the biggest fan of hip-hop and rap, but the tracks in the
movie really resonated with me, and I didn’t know why. Of course, the
breakout hit of the album was Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee.
I liked the song enough when it came out, but I never realized how
much I related to it until I joined cross country.

Completing one season of cross-country remains the hardest thing I’ve

ever done in my life. Having never done school sports in my life, I had to
push my body to the limit despite being out-of-shape, and oftentimes
the though of being twice as slow as everyone else on the team really
got to me. I felt especially alone because I felt my parents, who I could
turn to for all my problems, were the reason I was going through this
pain. Their want for me to lose weight and become a healthier person
definitely helped me physically, but I had never felt more like I had no
one to help me get through it.

One day, I was putting my legs in an ice bath in the cross-country room,
and the searing pain served as a reminder of how much I didn’t want to
do this and couldn’t get out of it. Then I started singing Sunflower as I
went through the ice bath.

In the movie, after Miles Morales is bitten by the iconic radioactive

spider, he’s forced into a huge responsibility he never asked for. He
feels especially alone because he’s studying and living at a private high
school away from home, his cop father wants the best for him without
asking him what he wants, and he feels his own artistic voice is stifled. I
never realized how much I related to Miles until I started singing his
favorite song in the movie, the one he listens to and sings to relax and
remind himself that no matter what he has to do, he is still uniquely
himself. After completing a season, losing 10 pounds, and reducing my
race time by 15 minutes, I still came out of it uniquely myself.