Jean Tannous is the typical AUT student who works and gains experience as he moves on in his higher education. This Audio-Visual Arts 3d year student was a fan of Biology and theater during his school days. A devoted movie-goer, he thinks Martin Scorcese has had the most influence on the style of filming he developed during his AUT years. “Taxi Driver is a fantastic movie. I can say it is my favorite but I also love Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction as much”, says Jean who now works as a sound engineer with a company that has him travel to Dubai, Amman and Doha very often. It has become hard for him to reconcile studies with work as his career has really moved on so he spends many nights with little if any sleep to make sure he does not fall behind in his studies. Luckily he graduates at the end of Spring 2008, so he gets all the time needed to work on concerts with big music stars such as Elissa, Tony Kiwan, Fadel Shaker, Nancy Ajram and others for whom he already worked as a sound engineer. This fan of heavy metal is a guitarist and says, “you have to listen to all kinds of music and build a solid music culture to succeed in the industry.”

Of his work, he says it is very stressful. “ I need to show every artist that the sound is perfect before the concert begins and the artists are usually very nervous and in a team of 40 technicians, it gets pretty hectic”, says Tannous who recalls an anecdote. “During the Zein Telecom Launching event in Jordan broadcast live via satellite in 4 countries, the anchor’s mike fell off her dress and she went on-stage with no sound coming out. I just grabbed a hand-held mike and went on-stage and sneaked it on to her without anyone of the audience ever noticing”.

AUT, Jean says, “prepared me very well for my career. The level of general culture my education gave me helped me be at ease with great artists. And the audio-visual courses were very relevant to what is needed in the industry. AUT got us the best teachers from the industry and that helped me be where I am today”

Alessia Yarmolenko  was born in Minsk, Belarus, the younger of two sisters. She finished high school there, a fan of Russian literature (Gogol and Pushkine are her favorites) and of Biology. She then joined the University of Minsk to major in psychology as she says” I always wanted to be a family counselor.”

Her plans changed when she met AUT student Yves Khadra who traveled to Belarus after a year at AUT. Married in 2005, the couple came back to Lebanon and Alessia joined AUT to major in Public Relations while Yves transferred to MIS.

Alessia, who had been a top model, a basket ball player and an avid alpinist soon got busy with studies and with a hobby she cultivated while in Minsk: dog training.

She helps Lebanese dog owners to train their pups. “The best age for obedience training is 5 to 7 months, but for attack training it starts at 7 months,’ says Mrs Khadra. She loves rottweilers and German shepherds but trains smaller dogs too.

On her life in Lebanon, she says” It is easier than in Belarus but there is less freedom.” She has no communication problems with a good English and decent Arabic learned by practice.

She enjoys learning at AUT much more than in Belarus because “it is a more relaxed way to learn.” A lot of stress accompanied learning in Belarus while at AUT, “teachers make it pleasant in the same time as enriching.”

Alessia and Yves have no set plans yet: they are eager to finish their studies and they”will see what the best next step can be.”

Mirva Kadi joined AUT in Fall 2007 to major in Audio-Visual Arts having started a career in arts, mainly singing. She hopes her studies will help her improve her chances of success. “I would like to produce my own clips or have an expert advice on clips produced by others for my songs”.

Mirva started work in modeling at the age of 15 and was elected Model of the Year in 2001. She has modeled for fashion with top agencies ever since. A fan of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, this French- Lebanese student artist says she also enjoys reading about psychology which fascinates her.

Mirva moved to singing in 2006 and issued a single in Arabic pop and is preparing for her second one. To give herself the best chances for success, she takes regular classes in vocalizing and practices the piano which she has played for eight years.

She loves the teaching and the audio-visual program at AUT because “it is taught by the top professionals in the industry and also because it relies a lot on practical applications. I am really learning a lot”, she says.

This champion in horse-back riding loves French artist Lara Fabian and intends to build a serious career in singing based on real skills and “not looks”.

Best of luck from AUT