On Thursday, Nov 9 people gathered in the E Café in the student union to participate in and listen to open mic night that was hosted by ATP.

ATP or awareness through performance is entirely made up of students. According to their website ATP strives to promote change and wants to inform people about social justice, diversity, and issues on the UWL campus. They are also a part of campus climate.

A lot of different people came to showcase their talents and talk about important topics to them. Multiple of the performances were written by the students—some written a couple years ago and some written a week prior to the event.

The performances were a range of singers to guitar players to writers. There were three singers, one of which who rapped. The other two did covers but also sang their own written songs. Some students even sang love songs that they created themselves. Most of the poems that were spoken were also written by the performers.

Once people started going on stage and performing, some of the audience started feeling more comfortable and went on stage to perform. Some of the students got inspired by the performers and wrote a poem on the spot to share with the crowd.

When asked what she liked about the performances, Reece Banta freshman at UWL said, “I liked how open and honest everyone was. It’s very eye-opening to be around so many individuals with strong opinions and thoughts who were willing to share.”

Everyone who went on stage talked about very personal topics, some of which were real-life situations. Students also went on stage to reflect on themselves or events happening in society today. And also, how they disagree with society’s standards.

Banta commented, “Overall I really enjoyed it. I didn’t agree with everything that was said, but I think that’s part of the experience, and we aren’t meant to agree with everyone.”