Taming the DIME audition nerves: “Success lies outside of your comfort zone”
Steven Showers saw the nerves in his son, Jimmy Showers, before his guitar audition for administrators at DIME Detroit.
Since then, Steven has watched Jimmy get excited before putting on incredible performances for a crowd of more than 1,000 people.
It was part of the learning process and something most students will encounter, Jimmy said. He beat back his audition nerves by using a piece of advice given to him by a friend, who told him: “Success lies outside of your comfort zone.”
Jimmy, who considered himself shy before the audition, embraced the opportunity to build a foundation.
“I just took the risk and took the chance,” said Jimmy, who is set to graduate from DIME in May. “I believed in myself and that’s what I would tell other students who are interested in going to DIME.
“Go ahead and do it because you’re never going to know if you don’t.”
Unlike Jimmy, Ali Wiercioch, a vocal student who had performed in community theater and choirs growing up, wasn’t intimidated as she approached her DIME audition.
That doesn’t mean it went off without a hitch.
Ali recalls being warmly greeted by Elise McCoy, the school’s Head of Recruitment and Admissions. She first interviewed Ali, then asked her to demonstrate musical skill including sight reading music, at the time, a weakness of Wiercioch’s.
“I did my best and worked through it,” Ali said. “Elise made me feel comfortable that I could be myself, so while I knew it could have gone better, I also knew that it wasn’t the end of the world.”
Ali and Jimmy know that the audition format can produce anxiety, particularly because performers understand the benefit of getting into DIME’s program that will build sustained, successful careers in the music industry.
Jimmy reminds musicians they don’t have to be perfect, but they do have to be passionate. That desire will help them shine.
As Jimmy learned and has since repeated: “Success lies outside of your comfort zone.”
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