Students share at open mic

Slender fingers danced across six strings. A quiet soprano voice sang. Decorative appliques glittered on a half-sized acoustic guitar from the lights in the James S. Murray Gallery.

An open mic event took place on Sept. 28 in the gallery on the upper level of Menard Hall.

Sarah Livingston, an art student, performed “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. She said she chose the song because it was her favorite.

“This is the first time I heard of an open mic event.”, Livingston said. She said she likes performing but she does not have a place to perform in public.

Livingston was one of six LLCC students and faculty who participated in the event.

From 11 a.m. to noon, performers sang songs, read poems, delivered monologues or read essays.

Lucy Carley, a criminal justice major, read a poem she wrote that described personal loss.

She said the poem was a work in progress.

Dawn Weller, a sociology major, sang “War” by Poets of the Fall and “The Living Years” by Mike and the Mechanics.

Weller said she sang “The Living Years” as a tribute to her father who died when she was 11 years old.

Weller sang both songs a capella style. She attended the open mic event because she loves singing and said “music has an amazing ability to move souls.”

Deborah Brothers, an English professor, read an essay about what it is like to have hyperosmia.

In her essay, she identified hyperosmia as a heightened sense of smell. She also discussed its disadvantages.

Mark Hardiman, a theatre professor, read two monologues. He said he wrote his monologues during the monologue/storytelling workshop that opened the literary festival Sept. 24.

The workshop was facilitated by Hardiman and Brothers.

Daniel Leitner, an English professor at LLCC, facilitated the open mic event.