By Jordan Galan
Correspondent
At homecoming, a momentous time for students at the College, students enjoyed many festivities with friends and family members. CUB organized a sensational Coffeehouse Friday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in the lounge of Traditions where everyone was serenaded by talented students with a variety of musical abilities.
Before the first performance, the audience was eager to hear what was in store for them.
“They were very warming,” said Shelly Bennett, a sophomore speech-language pathology major who led the first performance. It’s not easy for artists to take the stage and shake the nerves off, but the crowd seemed to be able to do just that.
“It was my first time performing in front of an audience that was not my friends on the floor of my dorm room,” Bennett said. “Everybody cheered in between the songs too which took a lot of pressure off of me.”
The College is known for its home-away-from-home feeling. Everyone makes it a point to encourage performers like a family, and it was clear the atmosphere really lifted people up.
Throughout the night, friends encouraged friends, and performers pushed each other to come out of their comfort zone and even perform their own songs.
“I was not going to sing one of my originals because I was too nervous, but then like everybody was going up there with their originals. It made me feel better,” said Claudia Masclans, a junior with a dual major in English and secondary special education.
The audience’s support was as heartwarming as it was radiant. It didn’t matter whether or not the student had much stage presence or experience with engaging with a crowd; all that mattered was that they were there and they were trying.
Experience comes with time and practice, but the Coffeehouse acted as the perfect platform for these young artists to gain their footing in a small supportive environment.
“I’m happy that it was in a smaller environment because I didn’t have to perform in a big concert in front of tons of people,” Masclans said. “It was good to know that it wasn’t a crazy big audience; it was just people coming to see people sing and that really helped a lot.”
Being a musician requires a lot of courage and gusto. To give the people all you got is no small feat, but the performers were able to deliver that and so much more.
“I was definitely impressed with everyone’s performance. I was pleasantly surprised with how each performer was able to play their individual instruments so expertly,” said Ajay Bhavsar, a sophomore physics major. “I was only expecting covers, but the fact that each artist was able to play their own songs shocked me.”
