Scrolling through the old music library of our younger days usually includes a lot of cringing and “Oh God, why?”

Ah yes, the days when people’s musical awareness was at its lowest point. Those are the days that make many of us want to chuck our old iPods at a wall and destroy the evidence of the songs we used listen to.

I remember all the singers and bands I used to listen to when I was elementary school: The Disney Channel stars (Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, The Cheetah Girls and The Jonas Brothers), The Naked Brother Band and both “High School Musical” soundtracks, which I bought off iTunes with my own money.

Those were the days of my music obliviousness, which I internally cringe at when I hear the catchy and somewhat irritating beat of “Bop to the Top” or even “Best of Both Worlds.”

Some people say they got inspiration to start a band or musical career because of a specific artist. I was no different.

My elementary school self was dying to become famous like Hannah Montana, which never happened by the way.  I even formed a “band” with friends, who I won’t name for the sake of their dignity. We had specific roles in the band, practiced at recess, wrote stupid songs that made no sense at all, and even had a “manager.”

But just as people grow, their music tastes grow as well.  Imagine with me, why don’t you. Take a sixth grade me, braces fitted on crooked teeth and the fashion sense of a nine year old, sitting with a friend who turns on her iPod to listen to a song, like “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha.

Suddenly, all the secrets of the world were revealed to me. That is what happened when I learned about pop music.

My music range has, thankfully, grown some in the past five years. It’s now just a big jumble of songs from different artists I really enjoy.

Thanks to those three years of middle school, which I really don’t like to talk about, I got to expand my music library because of my friends and their music collections.

If someone took my iPod and shuffled through it, they would confront everything from Taylor Swift to weird K-Pop songs. Gangnam Style anybody? This is what I call being musically diverse, not “some weird Asian chick’s iPod that is too messy for anyone to navigate.”

Although we say we hate our old musical tastes, don’t forget to thank the old music that used to be in your Top 25 Most Played playlist in iTunes. Without these songs, there would be no foundation for the current music that we listen to today.