I left the University Union after sitting in the Alumni Lounge early Monday afternoon, feeling at ease. I drove away in my car with my window down, singing out loud, without worrying about whether someone was laughing at me or making some arrogant remark.

Charlotte Martin, who played with the straps on her camel-colored high heel sandals as she talked to her audience and gave a down-to-earth performance that radiated style, grace, and a reflection of herself.

It reminded me that your days are as simple as you let them be and that you shouldn’t let hesitation determine your actions. Through watching different people, like Martin, I have learned that it is easier to just let yourself be yourself.

People see things how they want, and take from it what they will, Martin said – she is just holding up a mirror.

As I first stood in the background of the audience, I didn’t even see that Martin was sitting next to a piano. All I could see was a woman with long blond hair who was probably in her twenties. I wondered if she was a student. Then, I figured that she was just another student speaking through a microphone, allowing the human essence of her purpose to be filtered out, resulting in a speech entangled with prestigious fluff.

Then Martin, an Eastern graduate with a record deal at RCA, started to sing. Her funny lyrics about a girl’s experiences with guys were coming straight from her heart. With a comical twist, Charlotte’s hardships became a light-hearted song complimented by the notes of a piano, rooted in normal dirt she was not afraid to show.

Martin, originally from Charleston, has made quite a life accomplishment for herself already. She sings her songs with her words, and wears her own shoes, with a smile on her face.

Thoreau once wrote, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

Confidence is exhibited in the determined efforts made by an individual who strives for what they want, regardless of inhibiting factors that exist in everyday life.

More importantly, it is in the act of dealing with these obstacles, and not letting them get in the way of your dreams, that you find courageous stories like Martin’s.

Taking the risk of failure and moving to L.A. didn’t stop Martin from trying to do what she loves, which is singing. But I am sure she wonders what her life would be like if she didn’t take that risk today. She had nothing to lose, Martin said, and went to find her dreams.

There comes a point in life when you realize that it doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t like or believe in you – all that matters is that you like and believe in yourself.

No one knows the actual fate of Charlotte Martin as she forges ahead in her singing career, but one thing can be said, she is happy because she lets herself be, and that in itself is true success.