A Reflection on “Born to Run”

"Born To Run" is an old song released in 1975 by singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen. Bruce can write, compose and perform his own musical material. This song is ranked as number three at BillBoard 200. It is rock music and many young teenagers loved it at that time. Even today, there are still a lot of people who love this song.

I was born in 1994, much younger than this song, but it can still hit me when I listen to it. The melody is very fast and exciting at the beginning. It immediately caught my attention. The song not only shows the emotion and feelings of young people, but also tells a story of looking for love. The song shouts out the determination of leaving for a new life. We can see the dreams, doubts and courage of the young people when it comes to “We gotta get out while we're young 'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run”.  Young people always want to make some change, escape from the present life, and to find a better place far away from the world around. They have nothing to fear and nothing to lose. They have more courage to take a risk.

            This song makes me think about my experience. When I was graduating from high school in China, I got accepted into a big university in a big city. But I doubt what I can get from the education in China. I thought I had enough with 12 years of education. Because the Chinese education requires the students to obey and there was little freedom of choices and space for creativity. I feel like being produced in a line, every student is the same, without personality. I would like to see something different, a totally new education system. So I made up my mind and came to Western Illinois University (WIU). Life is harder for me in WIU, I need to face a lot of difficulties and challenges. I am trying my best to adjust. I do not want to be alone, so I make some friends around. We meet every weekend and have a lot of fun in a place far away from our homes.

It gives us power to leave our town behind, and look for a new future. I hope all the run-aways can find their dreams and vision come true in the far away place. Every one can be young, with the courage to run.