As someone who had never been to a music festival before, I was incredibly nervous to go to Rolling Loud. I was expecting the worst: terribly-loud music, super aggressive people, overpriced food—I honestly thought I was going to be miserable. But, I was going for the overall experience (and the street cred), and to gain more life experience. Luckily, what I got was far different than what I had anticipated, and I had an amazing time that I will never forget.

On day one, I remember my heart was racing as we were walking in through the front gates. I was incredibly nervous, and the huge amount of people there me made me fear for my life. Once we reached the crowd, I became genuinely scared. We were all packed in like sardines, and everybody was trampling and pushing into each other. I felt trapped, so I had a panic attack and we had to leave the audience. At that point, I was almost certain that I wouldn’t return for day two. But, thanks to my amazingly understanding friends who were willing to accommodate for my happiness, I decided to enjoy the rest of the night by staying towards the back of the crowd and dancing with more space around me. I was starting to have a fantastic time, so I changed my mind and came back for day two. 

After day one, I realized some things: the food was indeed overpriced, but surprisingly really tasty; the music was loud (as I expected), but fun to dance to; the people in the crowd were aggressive towards the front, but more polite towards the back.On the second day, at least one of my friends always stayed in the back of the crowd with me and made sure that I was alright. Therefore, I had a great time without having to worry for my safety. The rest of the night was a bunch of dancing, getting to know my friends better, meeting and talking to new people, and learning to tolerate rap music. 

Overall, I could not be happier that I attended Rolling Loud. I had a total blast, and I’m so glad I got to live through such an exciting, action-packed experience. Since I had such a great time there, I’m now more willing to try new things and go to events that are out of my comfort zone. Rolling Loud broke my shell, and I am so grateful for it.