It has been a whole year since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2021, but we haven’t fully escaped the threat of COVID-19 yet. The highly contagious virus can be seen as fatal in club activities, in which ‘hanging-out’ is considered as important. The street recruitment period used to be held when the new semester started every year, but this activity was also cancelled due to COVID-19. The event attracts too many students to continue as before.
  The new non-face-to-face recruitment method didn’t allow students to experience or talk about various kinds of clubs. Many students are curious about the various clubs, and there are many difficulties in answering all the questions.
Therefore, to solve questions and difficulties of students, and to learn more about the current situation from the club’s perspectives a CBT reporter had interviews with Kim Hyeong-kyum from the department of Biosystems Engineering, who is the chairman of the busking club ‘Bluse Sound’, and Kim Woo-hyun from the School of Mechanical Engineering who is the chairman of ‘AVES’ which is an English conversation club.

Q1: What are some of the things that have changed since COVID-19?

A1(Hyung) The first thing that comes to mind is that we can’t rehearse for performances with our partners any more, because there is no venue for practicing our performances. Moreover, we can’t sing for the people who are in attendance in regular concerts either.

A1(Woo) In our case, we also lost many merits and interesting experiences. Besides, we need to meet online via Zoom because of COVID-19, and as a result, it became a burden. Moreover, the virus makes it even harder to interact meaningfully with exchange students.

Q2: What are some alternatives which may be safely implemented to protect participants in a face-to-face situation?

A2(Hyung) First, we should resolve the challenge of venues for rehearsal by borrowing venues from other departments.
  It is more useful because we can use the place 24/7. Of course, there are many preventative measures, procedures and rules due to COVID-19 quarantine such as a mic cover and hand sanitizers. 
  Second, in keeping with the rules, we make groups composed of a maximum of four members to be able to participate in our club and make alternative groups for connecting other members through banquets or meals. Moreover, we used Zoom for our welcome party.
  Third, even though we can’t perform in regular concerts, we can sing songs almost every week in small groups to partner with live cafes’ at Seongan-gil in Cheong-ju. Furthermore, we prepare simulcasts to avoid being the cause of large crowds gathering.
  Lastly, we feel that the club can be more efficient and active and offer more alternatives. For example, in our club there are some members who want to acquire vocal skills. However, they can’t because of the prohibitive cost, so we came to an agreement with a vocal trainer. As a result, they are able to have vocal training at reasonable prices.

A2(Woo) We face both an army of regulations and impossible challenges because of COVID-19. First, we hope to create a situation where we can practice our conversation skills, learn new expressions, and acquire confidence to talk in English by having conversations with others including foreign students. This is the main aim of the club which we hope to maintain.
Another option is a discussion in English, after reading an original book. That relates to a reading certificate systems which will count towards the seed mileage program that is conducted by CBNU for certification or scholarship.
  Moreover, we made a study group for language proficiency exams like TOEIC. This activity is also connected to the English certification and seed mileage. In this way, we are trying to find as many other advantages as possible, like when we can meet and plan every activity  associated with the mileage system.

Q3: What are suggestions for the CBNU administration for smooth progress?

A3(Hyung) In the case of the culture department, recently it has been extremely hard to advertise our club to individuals via the club channel or through activities. First, our SNS impact is not as influential as the school’s SNS impact.
  Second, we hardly do external activities like performances or busking. Finally, we lose the opportunity to offer a lot of the content that is usually on offer. Therefore, we would be sincerely thankful if CBNU created unique contents for our club or could sponsor the clubs efforts to create new content.

A3(Woo) We desperately need a venue. Conversation is the main contents in our club. Therefore, face-to-face interaction is essential. We would appreciate it if you could make room for even a small number of people to work together so that this can happen.

By Yoo Gyeong-chan l jg010077@cbnu.ac.kr
By Ahn Min-joo l mj40@cbnu.ac.kr