The curtain rises and the sounds of a familiar tune resonate around the room. The chords repeat again and again until the audience recognizes the song and begin to clap along to the beat. This may sound like an exciting rock concert, but in fact this scene depicts the Pikesville High School 2012 Talent Show, and the performer is none other than Sterlin Coleman (’15).

            Along with balancing school work and time with friends, Sterlin enjoys practicing the guitar and learning new songs to play.

            “I started playing about two years ago,” Sterlin said. “I loved listening to bands like the Beatles and thought it would be cool to be able to play their songs.”

            In the talent show, Sterlin not only played “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes, on the electric guitar, but also engaged the audience with his voice by singing along.

            “I started playing the guitar first. I never really planned on singing that much because I don’t think I’m that good, but I figured I would give it a shot in the talent show,” Sterlin explained.

            One may think that someone with as much talent as Sterlin must take guitar lessons regularly. However, this is not the case.

            “I tried out lessons for a little bit, but I prefer just learning by myself. Plus, teaching myself gives me a bigger sense of accomplishment,” Sterlin said.

            Sterlin finds it challenging to continue to learn new and more difficult songs, but he accepts the challenge as playing is his passion.

            “Playing an instrument gives me something to look forward to when I go home. I’m rarely bored because I can always just pick up my guitar and learn a new song or even just play something I already know,” Sterlin said.

Despite guitar being a large part of his life, many of Sterlin’s friends and peers had no idea that he had a hidden talent for several years.          

            “The main reason I tried out for the talent show was because not many people even know that I play the guitar. I wanted to be able to show all my friends my skills and I figured that was a good place to do it,” Sterlin said.

            Sterlin has experience playing in front of a large crowd of fans before, so the talent show didn’t stress him out too much.

            “I was in a band once and we opened for another band, it was really cool,” Sterlin said. “I also didn’t even know the talent show was a competition, so I wasn’t very nervous to perform.”

            Aside from playing the guitar, Sterlin enjoys drawing and hanging out with his friends, but advancing his skills continues to be his main focus.