Adjusting to life in Montreal

By Alexandra Theodoreu (Game Art ’21)

While humans are adaptive creatures, being thrown into a new environment is never easy. I’ve moved a lot and lived in a lot of places, but I’ve never lived in a big city like Montreal. It took a little time to adjust, but so far I’ve been loving it here.

Hearing different languages everywhere you go is one of my favorite parts of being here. Sometimes you hear a different language or two back in Burlington, but definitely not everyday. Here, you hop on the Metro and every station name is spoken in French. And you don’t just hear French either, it goes from from hearing Italian at Jean Talon Market to Chinese at the Bakery that my friends and I frequent for lunch in Chinatown. Continue reading →

Emerging Media in Montreal

By John Connelly (Game Programming ’21)

At the Champlain Montreal Campus, every class is full of interesting subjects and information to absorb, but of all of them the one I most look forward to every week is Emerging Media.  The class is one of the two CORE classes I am taking, and offers a wide variety of new experiences involving emerging  media in Montreal. I originally chose it because my major was Game Programming, and I figured I would rather take a CORE class that fit into my major rather than one that didn’t, but once the class began I found that this class could honestly apply to any major.  Continue reading →

Exploring Montreal’s historical neighbourhood

By John Connelly (Game Programming ’21) 

During my month living in Montreal, I have learned a lot about the culture of the city, and a little bit about Canada itself too.  Whether it is from pub quizzes, metro architecture tours, exploring the city or maybe from my CORE classes Food Writing and Emerging Media in Montreal, there has always been an opportunity to learn more about the city I chose to study abroad in.  I’ve learnt history tid-bits, metro facts, cool places to eat, fun slang for sesame seeds and so much more. Montreal has such a vibrant culture that you can get swept into it so quickly, and love every minute of it. 

Continue reading →

Take A Whirlwind Campus Tour!

Curious to see what Champlain College’s Montreal Campus looks like? Here’s a tour of our amazing four-story facility in the heart of the city’s exciting Plateau neighborhood! This video was produced by the incredibly talented Alexandra Theodoreu (GART ’21).

 

Continue reading →

Getting Here, Getting There: Taking the Montreal Metro to Class

By John Connelly (EGPR ’21)

When doing your study abroad semester in Montreal, getting to campus may be a little more of an adventure than what you are used to. If you lived on campus in Burlington, this could be a big difference, since what used to be a quick walk to get to class has become a little journey.  If you want to just walk it, it’s not so bad in the summer, but it might not be that fun come winter to brave a 35 minute walk through the Montreal cold. But if getting there by foot is not for you, there is a much faster way to get to class, where a 35 minute walk is transformed into a 15 minute subway ride. That’s right, public transportation. Continue reading →

Jails, Beavertails, and Adventures: A Look Into the Spring 2019 Ottawa Trip

JJ Robertson (GART’20) and Mitchell Zasa (GPROD’20) walking though the Ottawa Jail.

By Liana Sterling (INT ‘20)

Sleeping in a haunted jail hostel is not the only wild experience one can have in the city of Ottawa. As the capital of Canada, there are many things to do from historical tours, to the endless good food, and it’s only a 2 ½ hour bus ride away! On our recent weekend trip to Ottawa, we experienced it all. We toured the House of Commons, part of the cluster of governmental parliament buildings where committee meetings occur and laws are made. We toured the National Gallery, one of Canada’s premier art galleries with art from native tribes, local artists, as well as artwork from notable artists from around the world. We got lost in one of the largest malls in Ottawa, and ate the Canadian sweet-tooth delicacy also known as beavertails, fried dough covered with an assortment of toppings. Continue reading →

A Visit From an International Salesman!

By Liana Sterling (INT ‘20)

On March 4th,  my International Business and Macroeconomics class had a visitor from a Montreal company called Solotech. Solotech is a company that provides production equipment such as lighting and sound tools to big name companies and shows. They’ve done lighting and sound for names like Britney Spears, P!nk, and Cirque Du Soleil! Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Jonathan

By Jonathan Vogt (PWRT ’20)

During the Fall 2018 semester, Jonathan interned with Champlain College as a Gaming Industry Coordinator at the Montreal campus. 

Jonathan Vogt (PWRT ’20) at the Champlain Montreal campus.

I worked at Champlain College—you may have heard of it!—as a Gaming Industry Coordinator. It’s a position that didn’t exist for very long, necessitated by Champlain College’s growing involvement with the many game studios and publishers around Montreal. To have an entire role devoted to managing the college’s relationships with the game industry shows just how ingrained the college is with gaming across the city.

My work was varied and diverse: managing alumni creations, updating the college’s contacts, reaching out to studios for visits, internship opportunities, and play-testing sessions, and revamping the Montreal Game Studio’s image—whether that be creating the website, taking pictures for marketing, or crafting an entire marketing video for the studio. Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Michael-Paul

By Michael-Paul Ho-Kang-You (GPROD ’20)

During the Fall 2018 semester, Michael-Paul interned at Iron Belly Studios as an Associate Producer.

Michael-Paul (GPROD ’20)

Company:

Ironbelly Studios is comprised of a talented, passionate and dedicated number of game developers from all corners of the globe. The studio focus is on creating high-quality entertainment experiences as well as providing outsourcing services at a fraction of the cost seen elsewhere, such as 2D, 3D, Animation, UI, VR, LD, and Archviz. IronBelly was founded in 2009 and located in Montreal, Canada.

During my Fall semester of 2018, I interned at Ironbelly Studio in Montreal, Canada as an Associate Producer having Adrian David as my supervisor. He is the Vice President of Internal Operations at Ironbelly Studios. Throughout my time at Ironbelly Studio, I had a few responsibilities at Ironbelly such as: Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Ryan

By Ryan Murphy (GPROD ’20)

During the Fall 2018 semester, Ryan found himself working as a Production Assistant Intern at Rogue Factor.

Ryan Murphy GPROD ’20

My name is Ryan Murphy, I am 20 years old and currently a Production Assistant Intern at Rogue Factor.   Throughout my life, I have had 3 jobs, including the position that I am currently at with Rogue Factor. I plan to briefly talk about those positions but mainly focus on my current job at Rogue Factor. Lastly, I am going to talk about what I have learned throughout my experience at Rogue Factor.

The first job that I ever worked at was as a teachers assistant at a camp for 3-5-year-olds called Camp Ellie.  It was run by a company called Stepping Stones Museum for Children, I worked there from June 2017 to August 2017. At first, I assisted at the museum and helped set up all of the packets filled with worksheets that were used at Camp Ellie.  Then started work at Camp Ellie at the end of June, while there I was in a classroom with three others. One was the lead teacher, and the other two people were also teachers assistants. The four of us were in charge of twenty 3-4-year-olds and teaching them interpersonal skills. Continue reading →