Sophia's Story
Sophia
From whispers to WOW! Sophia has blossomed with Under the Stars.
When Sophia started coming to our music workshops, she was a young, shy 20-year-old, who had never played any live music before. She would be the first to say she was a quiet person and spoke in whispers to communicate in the group. The welcoming nature of our ‘women only’ workshop on a Thursday meant that Sophia could take her time, get to know people slowly, and develop her skills as a musician, performer and group member along the way.
Sophia
It’s fair to say that Sophia still found ways to let herself be heard in workshops, but this was usually with the help of musical instruments. If she wasn’t happy with one of our tutors, she would loudly play an instrument to show her displeasure which showed her fun personality, even though she was often too shy to speak out.
Sophia has now been coming to our music workshops for ten years, and enjoys playing both the guitar and ukelele and taking part in gigs as part of the Sparkle Sistaz band. ‘And I’ve learned crochet,’ Sophia added, which came about through developing friendships with the other learners and the staff members, and the creation of the informal ‘Thursday lunchtime crochet club’.
Sophia started attending our Drama workshops in 2021– quite the move for the girl who didn't like to speak in public! We have seen massive progress in her speech and contribution to sessions since she started drama. Sophia herself says that one of the biggest ways she feels she’s developed with Under the Stars is in ‘speaking more’, and she feels ‘more confident’, to the point where she is even singing on the microphone!
Sophia has since performed live theatre at The Crucible, DJ-ed at The Leadmill, performed at Tramlines and sung as part of the Street Choirs festival in 2024. We encouraged Sophia to introduce one of the songs to the crowd of over 1000 people, which she did with absolute style (and a cheeky swear word), which went down a treat. These achievements are a testament both to Sophia’s hard work and dedication and the nurturing of talent and confidence that is integral to our workshops.
