Sing song study

Sophomore Julianna Reisinger sings her way to an A.

Very rarely will you find sophomore Julianna Reisinger not belting out the lyrics to her favorite song.

“I have been singing since I could talk,” she said. “I’ve been walking around my house singing for as long as I could remember. I’m pretty sure my parents are sick of hearing me 24/7.”

Sing study succeed - Sophomore Julianna Reisinger uses her musical talents to help her at school.
Grace Dawson
A spin on studying – Reisinger uses her musical talents to help her in school.

Reisinger started her singing career in fourth grade when she sang her first solo at the Serra Catholic talent show. From there, her voice and passion have only grown stronger. At 13, she sang the national anthem at the Volleyball Nationals, and just recently, she was approached by producers at the Mission Ranch Restaurant in Carmel, CA. For her, singing has always been first nature.

“It’s weird [that] I can sing the national anthem in front of 2,000 people and be completely fine, but I can’t give an oral presentation in front of the class without having a panic attack,” she said.

Reisinger has an obvious passion for singing, but her musical abilities do not stop there. In seventh grade, Reisinger decided that she wanted to do more with music, so she bought a guitar and taught herself how to play. She also incorporates her knack for music into her studies.

“I knew writing songs was going to make me remember some of the material, but I have to admit writing the songs helped more than I would have imagined,” she said. “I have never forgotten something on a test when I wrote a song.”

This year, she has written multiple songs for subjects like history, literature and science. Each song has yielded a unique melody and an exemplary test score. Reisinger’s unique studying method began in eighth grade when she wrote a preposition jingle.

“I realized that when I [wrote songs] I really understood prepositions,” she said. “I still remember it, I could sing the whole song to you right now.”

Soon after, Reisinger realized she could use music to her advantage in school. As Reisinger wrote more and more songs, she began to earn more and more A’s.

Hit the score - Reisinger creates musical scores to get perfect scores on her tests.
Grace Dawson
Hit the score – Reisinger creates musical scores to get perfect scores on her tests.

“When I got to high school and I had to memorize more complex things like photosynthesis, I decided to give it a try,” she said.

During Reisinger’s freshman year, her talent really came in handy during the second semester of biology.

“I could not memorize the process of photosynthesis, but I had to be able to write it down for the test,” she said. “So to help me memorize it, I decided to write a song, and it did [help]!”

While Reisinger was inspired by her preposition project to compose songs to study, she really has Miley Stewart, a.k.a. Hannah Montana, to thank.

“The first time I ever saw this was in Hannah Montana when Miley wrote a song about anatomy,” Reisinger said.

Just like Stewart, Reisinger aced her science test and has used this method ever since.

“Writing a song is definitely better than studying,” Reisinger said. “Not only is it more fun, it also sticks in your brain longer. Think about it, have you ever wondered why you can memorize a song after only hearing it twice but you can’t memorize the steps of photosynthesis after going over the flashcards a million times? It’s because the song is catchy and gets stuck in your head. I’m pretty sure that I got 100 percent on the photosynthesis test after writing that song. My parents thought I was crazy for spending such a long time writing the song, but it really paid off.”

Although no one broke out and danced during Reisinger’s photosynthesis test like they did in the Hannah Montana episode, she does admit that if you had watched her take the test, you would have seen her mouthing the words to her little tune:

“Next stop bio class

Gonna learn how things react

In a confusing process called photosynthesis.

First up light energy

 Is converted to make ATP

In a reaction called the light dependent.

Chloroplasts absorb the light.

It happens in the thylakoid.

Without this we can’t survive.

Photosynthesis is the center of our life.”

Next time if you need help on a test just look for Reisinger mouthing the words to her new song.