The University of Alabama hosted the National Association of Teachers and Singers (NATS) District Vocal Competition Feb. 15 and 16, sending home five UNA students with awards.

According to a campus press release, “students from universities across the state were divided into sections based on gender and level of expertise.”

A total of 16 students from UNA attended the event to compete, with three winning first place in their respective divisions.

Ethan Lolley, a senior and music education major, placed first in the Second Year Musical Theater Men category.

“I started out doing musicals at Shoals Theatre,” he said. “In my junior year, I added choral education (as a focus) for my major. From there my professor, Tiffany Bostic-Brown, encouraged private lessons.”

Ann-Marie Hall, who placed third in the Fourth Year Musical Theater Women category, also received private vocal lessons pertaining to her major. Hall, also a senior and music education major, began taking lessons in elementary school.

“My mom encouraged me to do sports as well as voice lessons,” she said. “I really enjoyed it, so I just stuck with it.”

According to the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, “1 in 5 Students will experiment with art.”

Dosomething.org insists that the arts encourage self-expression and allow for communication and social skills that are not represented in government-backed science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

“STEM is great, but arts are more than just technicalities,” Lolley said. “It exceeds something I find more powerful: emotion. That’s a very special thing to be able to touch someone else’s emotions through your own.”

With shared emotions also comes an interesting sense of pride and responsibility.

“My favorite aspect of voice competitions is that I’m held personally accountable,” Hall said. “You keep practicing and continuing to grow; it’s kind of challenging your expectations of yourself. I used to be very self-conscious about it but when you win an award like this, it makes you think, ‘Wow, I guess I’m actually pretty good at this.’”

Lolley said he encouraged anyone to pursue some kind of creative activity.

“If students are interested in arts and they love to do it, they should go for it,” Lolley said. “You don’t have to be a music major to take voice lessons or get involved. Lessons on campus are cheaper than going out into the community for lessons. It’s a real jewel we have at this university. I would just suggest getting involved.”

The campus community seems to fuel an artistic fire for students that is rare to find on campuses elsewhere.

“We are lucky to have a community where students can get involved either at the Shoals Theatre or at the Ritz in Sheffield,” Lolley said. “Even in big cities they don’t have the thriving fine arts that we have here. It’s very special.”