Throw it back to 2010:  spring semester of my freshman year in high school.  The FIFA World Cup was in Africa.  I remember watching part of it in Spanish class – in Spanish, of course.

And Shakira had dibs on the official song:  Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).  I couldn’t get enough of the music video.

I recently rediscovered the music video and the song, and I still can’t get enough of it.  It brings back all the ninth grade feels – it was a really good year for me, and I fell in love with English and Spanish – but it also means a lot (if not more) to me now.  It’s a reminder not to give up – on Spanish, or anything else in my life.  I don’t give up easily, but even I need reinforcements sometimes.

This song is perfect for that:

Between Shakira and Rachel Platten, I – theoretically – have nothing to worry about.  At least I know I have something else to fall back on when my anxiety tries to get the better of me.