By Kelly Ng (18S05A), Chairperson, and Fareen Rassemi (18A01D), Vice-Chairperson

Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to be inside a control room? Perhaps you can see yourself leading sound checks, pulling off challenging light sequences, controlling sound qualities of instruments and working with ease in a dark room, unseen but ever-present—

But AV is truly, so much more than just that.

There’s definitely a lot to say in terms of practicality – joining AVU will equip you with skills that are undoubtedly useful in this digital age. With us, you’ll learn how to manage lights and sounds, and even learn how to mic up a full band. Technical terms like XLR cables, faders and equaliser will be part of your vocabulary soon enough. Within your batch, you’ll get to decide on a course to take up together, and if neither Foley nor Computer Music Sequencing scare you off, you’ve come to the right place.

As such, it comes as no surprise that joining AVU is an amazing way to pick up a few new skills. If you are daunted by all this technical talk, fret not as we do not require any technical experience from you. Through training sessions and hands-on experiences during events, your lovely seniors and teachers will equip you with the necessary skills.

Additionally, you’ll be presented with countless opportunities to work with other CCAs. We provide support for almost every school event, including Open House and Orientation, concerts put up by every Performing Arts CCA out there and even symposiums and seminars organised by other Clubs and Societies.

As an AV member, you are required to attend weekly afternoon training sessions as well as sign up to support the events of your choice. Rehearsals and actual events can end as late as 10pm so if you have curfews… AV may not be the right CCA for you. After fulfilling a 60 hours service requirement as an AV member, the service hours after that will count as VIA hours.

However, AVU is way more than just crazy technical skills or VIA hours from serving the school – to us, AVU is like a quilt. A patchwork of different people with different backgrounds coming together and going through the ups and downs of supporting events as one, and growing with each other to become one. While it is our job to ensure that concerts and events come together, recognition or appreciation from others is not what we strive for as a CCA. No matter what, we know that we are the invisible glue that holds an event together, and with that knowledge, we are both comfortable and contented to work our magic backstage or in a control room with the people we love and care for.

As our Technical Head Ng Xin Joo (18S06J) says, “I really enjoy learning the technical aspect of AV, but what’s definitely just, or even more worthwhile than these skills, are the relationships I’ve made with the others.”

If you’re looking for a united community, and if you’re not afraid of coiling cables or holding various snakes, then AVU is definitely the CCA for you.