Southwestern College AES Student Section Blog

At our last meeting, our student section and I had the privilege of hosting the West Regional Vice President David Scheirman and fellow colleague Mr. Ken Freeman.  Their backgrounds differed so much, one an aspiring audio engineer and the other a former commercial truck driver. (Can you guess correctly which became the Vice President?)  The meeting itself opened our eyes to the future of the audio industry and what options are available for us to pursue.  It’s also become apparent now more than ever that our dreams of working only in famous recording studios will no longer be the industry’s norm if we want to have long standing careers.

After the section meeting, the officers alongside our advisor and I, were very fortunate to have some time with Mr. Scheirman to reassure us about running and maintaining a successful AES section.  His advice included: contacting other successful student chapters for their best practices, as well as being persistent and consistent in our efforts.

To Mr. Scheirman and Mr. Freeman:  Thank you again for coming down to our studio and for being so encouraging and motivational.  It’s nice to know there are industry veterans cheering on the student newbies and when the time comes, I hope we make you guys proud.

-Mary Ann “Mae” Enginco (Chairwoman)

Last Monday, April 20th, we had the pleasure of having Mr. David Scheirman and Mr. Ken Freeman as guests to speak to us about career opportunities and trends of the audio industry. This was an event the officers and I have been looking forward to ever since starting up our student section. One of the main reasons why I joined AES in the first place was to learn more about the industry and what opportunities are offered within, so that I may prepare as a student early in my own career in audio. So having Mr. Scheirman and Mr. Freeman for the meeting was a great pleasure and honor. 

Not only was I able to receive such useful information, but my fellow peers did as well; and it was a great turn out. Everyone responded well with a business mentality and dressed accordingly. Showing our regional VP that we were serious about our own careers and wanted to present ourselves as such. The presentation itself gave us an understanding of the direction the audio industry is going, as well as career options and opportunities as well. I was fascinated with the point of view each of our guests had on this subject, as both of them led careers that were very diverse. It was then I learned, that to work in audio industry, one must be willing to take on such diverse jobs to create a personal resume that displays versatility and adaptability. Because of this, you'll be prepared for a fast evolving industry, for which in this case, is audio. 

We, the officers, also had the pleasure of having dinner with Vice President David Scheirman. Our advisor/mentor Professor James Henry also joined us for the meeting. There, we were further mentored on the business of running our AES Student Section here in San Diego, or rather for now, Southwestern College. We received additional resources and advice regarding how other student sections are run within our region. From here, we plan on networking with our fellow sections to not only promote our sections, but to also promote education in audio as a society. Also, the food and service at dinner was great. I can only look forward to the greater events our AES Student Section will host and take part in. 

- Julianne Sobejana (Vice Chair)

It was very exciting to have these guests over and I'm very proud of the work all the officers put in. Both Mr. Scheirman and Mr. Freeman shared a lot of views that I have been learning with Professor Henry. It was nice to see that they reinforced what I'm learning here, as well as the new material they discussed with the members. It is without doubt that these guests are very busy, so for them to visit us really gave us a new perspective on how to grow as a student section.

-Austin Aragon (Secretary)