BC held its first open mic event on March 4 at the Southwest campus. Professor and event host, Alex Avila, brought open mic to BC to encourage both students and professors to share any of their essay readings, poems, songs, art, comedy or storytelling.
Two open mics were held that day at BC’s writing center, one event in the morning and another in the evening. At the early event, Professor Avila started off by sharing poems from his book, “Saints of Mary’s Project.”
Afterwards, other professors and faculty members of the writing center shared their experiences of teaching and how they ended up in their career or position. Elements of laughter, awe, and sincerity were heard from the audience as people went up to share their stories and readings, creating an environment of acceptance and good feeling. Professors at this first event were the main ones taking up the chance to participate, although student participation was more than welcomed and encouraged.
Professor Avila has had experience in open mics from places all over including New York City, Iowa, Boston, Texas and more. “I feel like having open mics allows people to express themselves, deal with stress, connect to community and also uplift and motivate people and it’s inspiring,” Avila said.
English is not Professor Avila’s first language. Being in school and having one specific teacher to guide him into learning English through poetry changed the course of learning for him.
“Poetry became a structure for me to understand English and formatting, so that’s how I got involved and more interested in English was because of that teacher,” Avila said.
Anna Rinaldi, a writing specialist at BC’s Southwest campus, shared her thoughts on how open mics can be beneficial to students. “I think it was really successful, I think really overcoming that initial nervousness people have with presenting, I think it was helpful to have professors and other people from other programs present and kind of share their stories,” she stated.
Professor Avila hopes to continue open mics at both the Southwest and main campus and spread the word for others to come participate and enjoy the show.