The audience, sitting on folding chairs, snap their approval as sophomore Audrey Edel delivers the last line of her poem. Crowded in the small room of Soul Space, on Telegraph, Edel finishes reciting her slam poetry, and walks triumphantly through the crowd back to her seat.

“[Soul Space is] kind of small,” said sophomore and Edel’s close friend Athene La Jeunesse. “I mean, there’s just a little stage in the corner, and actually, I think it’s good because it brings everyone like, physical closer together.”

Edel first fell in love with slam poetry when her public speaking teacher convinced her to recite a poem in the Veterans Hall for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, she said.

“So little seventh grade me was shaking,” she said. “I went up, and I read my poem. I remember everybody was so supportive, and it just made me feel really happy.”

After that, Edel continued to participate in slam poetry, she said. She has received an honorable mention in a school scholastic competition of over 300,000 entries and third place in the only speaking competition she has ever entered.

However, Edel’s love of poetry goes beyond the competition, La Jeunesse said.

Some people draw to relax. Writing poetry along with speaking poetry is Edel’s form of meditation, Edel said.

“You go up into a microphone and you just yell your feelings,” Edel said. “It’s a good feeling.”

Edel is extremely passionate about poetry, both writing and speaking it, La Jeunesse said.

“She is extremely articulate,” junior and Edel’s tennis teammate Emily Becker said.

Last tennis season, she wrote some of the lines of the song for the assistant coach’s AIDS fundraiser which were incredibly good, Becker said.

“They were very nice and flowy,” Becker said. “You could tell that she’s into writing poetry.”

Edel made the varsity team as a freshman and is very dedicated to the sport, La Jeunesse said.

“She’s a very strong tennis player and a very big presence on the court,” Becker said. “She’s also a very caring person and is always there for you. She always reaches out.”

Edel has made some of her most significant friendships through tennis and strongly argues that it is the best sport ever. Tennis has also taught her many important life lessons.

“I learned that the only time you lose is when you give up,” Edel said.

Tennis is not the only sport Edel enjoys. What most people might not know about her is that she loves to dance.

“I think she has been dancing since the beginning of time,” La Jeunesse said.

Edel danced ballet for 11 years since the age of three but now she dances contemporary, she said.

“The music is more free,” Edel said. “I can move my body however I want.”

She uses dance as a form of meditation similar to poetry and when she does these activities she tries to access a deeper emotion, she said.

“I write about things that make me happy most of the time, or things that make me really sad,” Edel said. “Everything has to have a strong feeling behind it.”

Edel tries to write these raw human emotions that people can relate to. Her goal is for people to connect with her poetry, she said.

“If you relate to something it makes you feel like you’re not alone and that’s always a good feeling to have,” Edel said.