APU’s student body gathers to cheer on fellow classmate’s talents
From spoken pieces about female empowerment to upbeat rap beatboxing, Azusa Pacific’s Open Mic Night was an evening dedicated to the celebration of individual talents.
The performing arts intern team put on their trademark Open Mic Night event for the APU student body on Friday evening. Attendees gathered at Seven Palms, treated with food and drinks that were provided by Bon Appetit. The bi-annual event offers a chance for any student to showcase their talents.
The first performer of the night, Shaina Latuno, a sophomore biology major, chose to perform the theme song from the popular video game Smash Bros called Life Light. She wanted to choose a fun song to go along with the event’s light mood, picking one by Tory Kelly for her first go round her freshman year, to test out a different vibe.
Even though Latuno is a biology major, music has been very important to her throughout her life.
“It has always been with me because my parents are very musical and my whole family is super musical,” Latuno said. “ It’s part of my lifestyle and it means a lot to me. It gives me kind of a sense of relaxation, joy and a lot of different emotions.”
Numerous acts chose a self-written piece rather than well-known tunes to perform. Freshman music major Michael Girgis was an example of this.
Girgis, who has played music since his freshman year of high school, decided to perform an original called ‘Two of Us’. Girgis got into songwriting at 16 when his friend took him to an Ed Sheeran concert. After the concert, he spent the next couple of days trying to learn how to play “Photograph” on his guitar.
For Girgis, the event offered him an opportunity to express himself through songwriting as well as observe the talents of other APU students.
“Maybe one day, a person here can be a big artist and you can say I knew them then,” Girgis said.
For the rest of the performers, the event provided an outlet for students who don’t see music as a full-time career to freely express themselves.
Freshman screenwriting major Caleb Hale chose a soulful ballad for his performance.
For Hale, music was always an integral part of his life as it was the foundation that brought his parents together. Performing at Open Mic Night offered him an opportunity to express personal feelings of loss through the song “All I Ask” by Adele.
Hale said the opportunity that the event gives people to express their emotions is very special.
“I think that APU hosting an event like this creates a positive field for artists like us to go out there and do what we love to do without fear of being judged or thinking you’re not good enough, ” Hale said.
The encouraging crowd made all the difference.
When sophomore Jasper Dunagan, a rapper, got up to the stage the whole crowd stood up and vibed to his beats. Later on, people turned on phone flashlights to further show their support for another performers’ singing act.
“Even though you can’t possibly relate to a certain song, you still feel it,” Hale said.
For a night, music was the avenue that brought people from all walks of life together on the lawn of 7 Palms.