Students got over the hump last week with warm coffee and smooth tunes.

The Student Program Board’s Acoustic Coffee House event brought together professional artists and talented students March 25 at Café O’Bears.

The event featured Mieka Pauley and The Ballroom Thieves, in addition to many students that sang and read poetry. Comedian Danny Ashcraft opened the night with laughter.

Mieka Pauley, Starbucks Emerging Artist of the Year and Cosmopolitan Magazine Fun Fearless Female of the Year, performed many original songs that offered a strong and dignified vibe for the night.

“I was always into music,” Pauley said. “In high school, I played in rock bands and when I was in college, I started street performing, and I ended up making a living off of that.”

Pauley said she was a shy girl, except for when she was performing.

“Guitar is my main instrument, but I know piano more. It’s like a language, because at some point, you’re not thinking about it anymore—it just is,” Pauley said.

The Ballroom Thieves also performed many songs and brought a fast-paced, feel good atmosphere.

Percussionist Devin Maunch, cello and bass player Calin Peters and guitarist Martin Earley got the crowd clapping along to their beats.

Junior Ellen Searle was one of the first students to perform during the event. She sang “More Than Just the Spare,” which was a song that was supposed to be in the movie “Frozen,” but was eventually omitted.

“I was a choir girl in high school. I was in musical theatre, too,” Searle said. “I’m too busy in college to do things like choir or musical theatre, but I love to sing and perform. That’s why I go to open mic nights. I’ve never been in the center of things and open mic nights give me the opportunity to do so.”

In addition to singing, some students read poetry. Junior Latecia Span read her own poem titled “Natural Beauty.”

“The media doesn’t know what beauty is, so I said this poem to tell people that it comes from within,” Span said.

Overall, the night was full of chatter and music.

“It was liberating,” Span said.