Imagine looking out at a room full of faces, all looking expectedly in your direction. Your heart beats faster than normal. Adrenaline is pumping through your veins. You wipe your sweaty, clammy hands on your thighs as you shift weight from one foot to the other. Then it hits you.

You are on stage ready to perform.

Several Wayne State students and a local pastor entertained the audience during Open Mic Night last Thursday. The performances started at 8 p.m. in Cats’ Corner, ranging from singing to Tai Chi to acting.

“Originally we had three people signed up to perform. I noticed there were more people showing up and playing, which is even more exciting,” Asia Berg, the Student Activities Board programmer, said.

Berg came up with the idea of Open Mic Night, as well as finding comedians to perform at different events.

“We wanted people to know that there will be events other than comedians,” Berg said. “We want to try to get students’ attention, especially kids who stay on campus. That will help them be able to do stuff other than sit in their dorm room. It gives the kids who want to perform a chance to show off their talent.”

Not all of the acts involved WSC students.

Terry Tomlinson is an interim pastor at Our Savior Lutheran Church.

A fact about Tomlinson: he has been performing with his guitar and singing for almost 50 years.

“On my ninth birthday, my grandmother bought me a guitar and guitar books. She said that as soon as I could play everything from the books, she would buy me an electric guitar,” Tomlinson said.

After a week of practicing, he could perform from the books. Tomlinson also performed at his third grade play and at church services.

In 1988, Tomlinson was afflicted with Dystonia, whose symptoms include involuntary pulling of the neck and uncontrollable blinking.

“Basically, the effects are the opposite of Parkinson’s Disease,” he said.

One of the symptoms for him was a weakened voice. As a result, he stopped singing.

Later, a sixth grader told Tomlinson that he should sing again, because the boy liked Tomlinson’s voice. Tomlinson started to perform again and people started to tell him how good he was.

Now, Tomlinson performs as often as he can.

Tomlinson sang a couple of Bluegrass songs and “Over the Rainbow.”

“Whenever you think you can’t do something, you can do it,” Tomlinson told the audience after his performance.

Most of the performances featured singers and guitars.

Amanda Kahny, a junior at WSC, was one of the singers who performed multiple times during the event.

“I had fun. I am a very sociable person, so events that involve lots of interaction with others are great for me,” Kahny said.

One of Kahny’s inspirations is her grandpa.

“He was a guitar player and loved to perform. He always tried to get me to perform, but I had major stage fright.”

Her grandpa owned a sparkly, blue guitar. He told Kahny that if she learned to play the guitar, she could have it. It took her seven years to learn to play.

A couple months before her grandpa passed away, Kahny performed. “He was so proud. I’ll never forget how excited he was.”

Now Kahny keeps the sparkly, blue guitar on a stand so everyone can see it.

Was Open Mic Night a success?

Several in the audience commented that the event was an entertaining way to spend the evening on a Thursday night.