Sheridan Forte stepped on stage in Chapel last Friday to perform a spoken word poem. Seven minutes after that, most of the students in Moody Coliseum were on their feet.

Forte, a senior English major from Dallas, approached Mark Lewis almost two years ago with the idea.

“Sheridan first approached me when he was a freshman,” said Lewis. “We talked about the possibility of him doing a slam poem in chapel several times over the semesters, but never set an official date.”

In hindsight, Forte considers it a blessing that the event was postponed until this year having just recently finished the poem he chose to perform.

The performance is part of an attempt to combine creative arts with a spiritual setting in chapel.

“God has given us gifts that can be expressed in many different forms. While not all of those forms would necessarily translate well in the chapel setting, there are several that can,” said Lewis.

Forte is the first performer to take stage this semester.

“I was amazed at the natural way he delivered the message, and I was thankful for the strong student response of appreciation and support,” said Lewis.

Allthough there is currently no set plans for future performers, Lewis said he has his “eyes and ears open” to opportunities that may arise.

Forte enjoyed performing to his largest audience yet and has since received invitations to present his poems elsewhere.

“It made me feel good to see that many people touched by the words god had gave me,” said Forte.

Forte first realized his gift during a mission trip to inner city Washington, D.C.

“[The children’s] lifestyle touched me in a way where I began to hear words in my head that matched with their situation,” said Forte. “I really cant explain it but it was beautiful the way the words were constructing themselves inside of my head.”

Upon his return to Dallas, he put these words onto paper and presented them to his church where they garnered a standing ovation from the congregation.

Seeming like a singular event, Forte practically ignored the event until a similar thing happened a few years later.

“I was immature in the way I was thinking that it was mine,” said Forte. “But its not my gift. Its really God’s gift that He gave me.”

During this time, Forte attended Kennedy-Curry Middle School, considered to be one of the worst in the nation, both academically and behaviorally.

The school, along with the entire school district, was shutdown in 2006 for unacceptable academic standards as well as allegations of educator-led cheating on TAKS exams.

But it is this exact environment that Forte says shaped him.

“I don’t regret those situations I went through because it made me who I am today,” said Forte. “Without those situations, those choices, who is to say where I would be.”

This external environment was overcome by Forte’s faith and family environment.

“I grew up with a father and a mother in the same house. A strong family, that was the foundation,” said Forte. “My environment was not pretty. What was pretty was the way my parents raised me.”

Forte’s lyrics focus on many Christian themes and are often presented in an encouraging way.

“I have to put Christian themes in because that’s what I know. We’ve been at the bottom and there is no way we could have made it out of the situation by ourselves,” said Forte.

“Whenever I write I just focus on encouragement and how I can impact people in a way that will bring god the glory. Thats how it comes out. That’s me.”

Forte’s poems are often inspired by events.

“I don’t write as often as I should,” he said. “But the times I do write, I see events that happen where people are not treated fairly.

Something about these events trigger Sheridan’s mind.

“And then I start hearing those words again.”