Student Spotlight: Daniel Bosco

Daniel Bosco, a senior English major, is one of the many individuals with talent behind Poets and Writers. After years of performing and playing gigs on stage in front of live audiences, the experience of reading his raw, self-identifying poetry to strangers is both terrifying and rewarding.

"The first time I did an Open Mic night for poetry it was pretty nerve-wracking. I mean, standard stuff, everybody gets nervous before his or her first time on stage. My first poetry Open Mic: my hands were shaking, it was hard to keep my voice steady, and everything kind of slows down and gets really surreal," said Bosco. "It's a very peculiar experience performing on stage, everyone hinging on your words or music, but then once you start to get it out. It just comes naturally, for me at least. It's a really good pay off when you're on stage and showing people the things that you worked really hard on and you can get that recognition of it."

PSU's Poets and Writers allowed Bosco to find his inner voice and to steady his nerves by becoming familiar with his own work and watching other artists appreciate it as well, further encouraging him to keep working on himself as a performer of Poets and Writers. Not only does Bosco write, he also plays guitar and often goes on stage for gigs, setting a different scene for the showcase lifestyle. "Inspiration from music comes a lot more from listening and deciphering the music I like to listen to. It's like capturing an essence or a tone. The more I think about my music inspiration, the more it seems similar to my writing inspiration," said Bosco. Being able to bring the two worlds of poetry and music together allows the mind to intertwine different concepts, creating a new masterpiece each time. 

"I really understand music, and I'm really comfortable with music. I've been playing for twelve years, so playing on stage isn't a big deal for me," said Bosco. "I feel confident. I just go up and have a lot of fun on stage, but with poetry I feel more naked." 

"It's a whole different thing for people to take in. Some people might understand the complexity and theoretical nuances you try to incorporate into your guitar playing or whatever you do. Everyone else can just enjoy it on face value, but reading poetry, that safe barrier of being able to hide behind music is gone. It's just you and your thoughts on stage in a quiet room. It's a real trip," said Bosco. Being able to feel that genuine emotion shine through him was what kept him coming back to Poets and Writers, helping him secure his voice with experience and good vibes from the supportive audience.

Talent is born within each and every person, but there are also outside forces that allow talent to grow. Taking in the surroundings and seeing others reactions to your work is eye opening and shows the artist that their work is not just scribbles in their journal or documents tucked away in files on laptops, but words of wisdom that are meant for others to hear. "All of the things I write about are things that I hear other people say, see people do, things I think about. I'm just constantly writing down things in a little black notebook I always keep with me. Everything is inspirational because everything has meaning," said Bosco. 

Everyone gets inspired in different ways, for Bosco, inspiration ranges from the people he interacts with to a miniscule fly that typically goes unnoticed. "I've written about not being able to find my pants and a fruit fly that lived in my room. I've written about dealing with the death of my mother. Everything has a poetic and meaningful quality to it if you can find it. Of course another big part of writing poetry is reading poetry. Getting to look at how other people write and having that 'I-want-to-be-how-awesome-you-are' moment is a big part about what makes a good writer," said Bosco.

Some artists at PSU tuck themselves away in the studios of D&M, out front of Mary Lyon on the green, or dismal dormitories while Bosco is just trying to scribble his thoughts down before they escape his busy mind. "As for an atmosphere to write in, I'm really not picky. For me, it's a sort of, 'if I don't get this down on to paper right now I won't be able to capture the true essence of what I was thinking about' feeling I have about writing, which is not always true. I have things written in my notebook that I can't remember for the life of me what it meant. But I've got poems covered in beer and coffee and food because I just feel like if I have an idea it doesn't matter what I'm doing, I need to write it down. Ideally, I like writing in my room. I have a good view. I can listen to jazz or metal depending on the mood I'm trying to create, and make tea or whatever, but any place will do really," said Bosco. An artist is an artist, no matter what his location is.