When Christle Sterling picks up her guitar and microphone, she makes people cry.

Her melodic voice reaches out to her audience and, in some inexplicable way, she connects with them.

Sterling, 23, was the winner of the Buckeye Country Star’s competition held Saturday in the Woodland Mall.

After entering the competition alongside dozens of other singers in the area, Sterling was one of 12 picked to go on to the final rounds – a process of elimination that began in May.

Ironically, though, Sterling didn’t even enter herself into the competition.

“I got a phone call from [my mom] when I was out on vacation in Arizona and she said, ‘Don’t be mad at me, but if you get some e-mails from Buckeye Country it’s because I signed you up for this thing,'” Sterling said. “I tried out hoping I wouldn’t make it at first because I knew it would be a high-publicity thing, but I tried out hoping for the best and they picked me.”

Though Sterling – a junior at the University – was apprehensive at first of participating in the competition, she now looks back at her hard work with a smile on her face.

She learned an awful lot, after all.

Not only did she have two weeks to rehearse, memorize and master four songs, she also had to learn how to do all of that with just two practice sessions with a band.

“I didn’t know how I was going to handle it,” she said. “Getting over my own confidence, too, [was difficult]. It was nerve wracking.”

Eventually, Sterling got over her insecurities and gave everything she had for the winning performance where she sang “You’re Not Here.”

The song has a special meaning about wanting to say something to someone who isn’t there.

She wrote it a month before her fiance died of cancer in December.

“That was probably one of the hardest things ever,” Sterling said. “Now I see different things coming out of it. If [my lyrics] can help anyone else – because I know what that feels like to be down on your face – if you can turn on the radio and a song that I sing helps you for a minute, then that’s what it’s all about.”

Sterling’s performance history dates back to her young teenage days at her church.

After a Sunday performance she and her father gave, she got some recognition.

“People didn’t know me yet – I was only 12 or 13 – and my dad and I sung a song together,” she said. “[The church] really embraced us and asked, ‘Where have you two been?'”

From there, Sterling received a guitar from her father when she was 16, but gave up shortly after her fingers started hurting.

After a long rest, she picked up her guitar again last summer and “just fell in love with it.”

Sterling began to write her own songs and centered them on how she was feeling at the time.

Performing those songs in front of hundreds of people is something Sterling said she will never forget.

“I have never been able to have the opportunity to stand in front of this huge crowd and do this concert where they just listen to something I sat at my house at 2 in the morning and wrote,” she said. “I was just standing there in awe.”

Though she has become a rising star in the area, Sterling hasn’t let her head get too high.

She credits those around her who have paved the way to the success she is today.

“I really like people knowing that I don’t credit myself at all because I don’t think I could have done it by myself,” Sterling said. “I thought that if God wanted me to do this, then I’d keep going with it. And I just keep doing that.”

Sterling is involved in more things than just music.

As a member of Kappa Phi and Active Christians Today, she devotes her time to helping others.

She also works as a supervisor for Wynn-Wreeth, a home for people with disabilities.

Sterling said she will begin recording her new record on Nov. 20.

From there, the CD is will be mixed and a master recording will be finished on Nov. 22.

With so much to be proud of, she is constantly smiling and embracing what’s around her.

She even has her own motto that perfectly explains her outlook on life.

“Happiness is like peeing your pants,” Sterling said. “Everyone can see it but only you can feel its warmth.”

Sterling will be hosting her CD release party on Nov. 30 at Junction Bar and Grill.

The event begins at 9 p.m. and is free of charge.