It’s 2005, I’m in 4th grade, and I got an iPod shuffle for Christmas. How could I forget that this piece of technological magic could hold as many as 120 songs. Remarkably, it could mix the order of the playlist so you were conveniently surprised by the next song that came on. It was a game changer for the music industry, but it also changed my personal experience with music.

I had always loved and listened to music, but now I was expanding past my dad’s Springsteen mixes and my Aaron Carter and Green Day collections. No longer was I restricted to whatever CD’s I blared on my MP3 player in my room -- I had to research my music, download it, and then could bring it anywhere with me.

To be honest, I thought I was so cool, wearing those weird culotte half pants/skirt things and some large boys RipCurl T-shirt with my checkered Vans, earphones in, cruising around in the backseat while my parents drove me everywhere.

I’m having this flashback because this week in 2016, my favorite Pandora station of the week has been Suga Rey radio (I highly suggest listening), and quite a few of my favorite throw back songs have been bringing back some great memories. So here, reminisce with me as I share my favorite songs from my 4th grade iPod shuffle playlist -- the list that shaped my taste in music today.

1. "Holla Back Girl" – Gwen Stefani

Everyone knew that punchy intro, but no one knew what a holla back girl was. This song always seemed mildly appropriate considering that it was a spelling lesson, but now when I sing along, with “sh*t” rolling off my tongue every other line, I can’t remember how I got away with singing along when I was 10. Looking back at the music video, I still think crop tops with cargo pants needs to make a comeback.

2. "1, 2 Step" – Ciara

All I can remember is trying to dance to this wearing half of my school uniform, and having it stuck in my head for days on end. Not stuck in your head on permanent repeat like Jesse McCartney’s "Beautiful Soul" (another favorite on this playlist), but the lyrics were just haunting enough so that you couldn’t count one and then two without it thinking “step” after.

3. "Can’t Stop" – Red Hot Chili Peppers

If my aforementioned style choices didn’t give it away, I had this tomboy thing going for me, so of course I listened to my fair share of Blink 182, the White Stripes and Arctic Monkeys. Other than being downright catchy, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were always a favorite because I had this mental picture of myself tearing through this song on an electric guitar, impressing everyone with my stellar guitar skills and redefining 10-year-old gender roles globally.

4. "Hey Now" – Hillary Duff as Lizzie McGuire

Tomboy persona aside, of course I watched Disney Channel in its glory days. We were young and naïve, but what girl watching "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" did not have dreams of meeting a beautiful Italian pop star that drove you around on a Vespa, took you shopping and turned you into an international singing sensation? I’m 20 years old and planning on studying abroad in Rome, and this idea still weighs heavy in the back of my mind. This song, and the rest of the movie’s soundtrack (which I still have memorized) was an inspiration to all elementary school girls to dream big about their first love. It’s probably also why we now all have such high expectations.

5. "It Wasn’t Me" – Shaggy

This is not a joke, this was one of my favorite songs. My parents would put me in surf camps during the summer, and we would always play this on the bus ride to the beach. I don’t really know if it helps, but it wasn’t (just) me (hahaha), but a bus full of corrupted pre-teens singing about banging on the bathroom floor.

These are just five of 120 of what I think were my favorite songs of all times, to this day. To be honest, all the playlists I have now don’t look too different from what my iPod shuffle playlist looked like in 2005.