Taking Montreal by Storm: An interview with Jack. By Amelia Payne (Game Programmer ’21) Jack Storm (Game Programming ’16), is a Champlain college alumni who studied in Montreal and later landed a job in the city. He shared his thoughts during a zoom interview giving tips on how to make the most of your time […]
Continue readingBy Kyle Mays (Multimedia – California Lutheran ’18)
Like the DemoNight I attended last week, this was event where my expectations had to be put in check in a great way, but for entirely different reasons. I hadn’t expected the alumni pizza night to be anything more than hanging out with past students while also getting free pizza. What I had not taken into account was the number of alumni that would show up, that they were nearly all full time developers at professional Montreal game studios such as Ubisoft and Rogue Factor, and that they were mainly there to talk to us!
The Q&A they hosted was full of solid and insightful advice on how to start looking for jobs upon graduating, their workplace environments, and necessary communication skills. Some of the best tips I heard included the importance of being able to read conversations you are having with recruiters at social events, and how important it is to try and be likable and relate to their interests rather than your own personal interest in getting a job from them. They stressed the importance of being able to put yourself out there and practice conversational skills as much as you can, and if you can’t do it on your own, go with a friend who might help keep the conversation flowing and accentuate the qualities you have that you might not even recognize. None of the advice felt like it was condescending or a show they put on for us: it felt really genuine and practical and I really appreciated it.
By Karisa Desjardins (BUSA ‘16)
Our amazing student volunteers, who made everything possible! (Hannah Cartmel)
In 2007, Champlain College realized a long-held dream to open a study abroad campus outside the United States. Montreal, Quebec, Canada was chosen not only because of its eclectic mix of languages and cultures, but also due to the city’s exciting learning and professional opportunities in Emerging Media. Since then, Champlain Abroad Montreal has seen more than 600 students pass through its doors, placed 131 interns at companies like Ubisoft and Behavior, and now has over 20 alumni working and living in the city. With all of these achievements and more, it was time to celebrate!
I have discovered recently that you can have a surprising amount of emotional reaction to the introduction of a few strangers; granted that you make sure they all have a job that you really, really, want. When we all sat in a circle around the four Alums of legend, I found myself and a few others were staring at the group with strained eyes, curious about the men and women that made it to “the other side”. Continue reading
After my time spent studying abroad in Montreal, I knew it would be an amazing city to be a part of after graduation rolled around for me. Being there was hands down the best experience I had at this school, and it gave me the chance to meet some amazing individuals working in my field. Continue reading
One of the benefits of being a student at Champlain College is that our alumni often stay very well connected to the college and the student body. I was reminded of how beneficial this trait can be this weekend when a few alums working in Montreal decided to visit us study abroad kids and pass on advice, share stories, and eat pizza. It was quite a bit of fun, and very informative. Continue reading
On Wednesday, September 15th, myself and about 14 students studying here in Montreal got to take a tour through the offices of a local game development company called Ludia. Ludia works in the social gaming market, taking popular brands such as The Price is Right, How to Train Your Dragon, and Jurassic Park and making games out of them, usually on mobile platforms alongside Facebook. Continue reading
I studied abroad in Montreal during the 2013 Spring Semester. While abroad, I was lucky enough to intern at a creative studio called Nomad Industries. I ended up taking a paid position there and stayed for the summer. I went back to school in Burlington to finish my studies in Digital Filmmaking. Continue reading
For the last few weeks of the summer Fred Hultqvist, the founder of gameartisans.com, ran a weekly Sunday meet up and draw at the local Second Cup coffeehouse. After getting there and seeing the group of people huddled over laptops and sketchpads in the corner, I knew I was in the right place. Lots of local artists were there, some freelance and some working for specific studios, just to sit and hang out with other fantastic artists at Second Cup. Continue reading
This week many of us got a chance to try out the Oculus Rift. The Rift is a virtual reality headset that uses stereoscopic images to give users the experience of real depth, and the feeling of actually being in the game space. Continue reading