Bootcamp 2018 is in the books and this has to go down as the BEST BOOTCAMP EVER!  If you don’t believe me, ask the Bootcampers!  100% of the students who attended said on our exit survey said they enjoyed their time here on the Kelowna campus.  100%!!!  So what made them so happy?  What was all the fuss about?  Here’s a day-by-day Mission Report!

Monday March 19th at 8am was Registration and then 8:30am to 9:30am was Orientation for all the Bootcampers at the Coast Capri Hotel!  Students came from as far away north as Dawson Creek, BC, and as far east as Martensville, Saskatchewan to participate in this year’s missions which included:

Get Animated!

Visual Effects Mayhem

The Perfect Photograph

Counter Hacking Operative

Audio Sampler

Make a Film!

Brand Me!

Doorway!

Animal Health

>Once Orientation was completed, the students were split up into their mission groups and headed back to College for Arts and Technology’s Kelowna campus on Dickson Avenue to begin their classes!  From 9:30am to 11am, parents of the Bootcampers stayed behind for a Parents Session – Finance and Student Success Q&A where school administrators answered any questions they had regarding CAT, including questions on tuition and what life is like on campus one a student is enrolled in the school itself.  And not only that, parents were able to attend full campus tours from 2-3pm and 3-4pm. Lunch was provided all week by Relvas Catering, with hot soup and delicious sandwiches, plus a cookie and a drink, for the taking on Day One!

Tuesday March 20th was our first full day of classes.  Lunch on Day Two was all about Pasta, with Mac & Cheese and Lasagna filling our hungry Bootcamper’s stomachs!  Then, once classes concluded for the day, we had our “Squad Social” where students got to choose from participating in a Dance Party, playing Playstation, board games, sketching in a sketch book or watching a movie in the Lecture Theatre that was decided democratically (this year’s winner of the vote: “Corpse Bride”).  All while enjoying pizza, chips and pop!  Fun was had by all!

Wednesday March 21st had yet another day of full classes, but with a twist for a few of the missions!  Get Animated had two sections; the first two days included 2D Animation for half the class, and 3D Animation for the other half.  And then on this day, they switched it up, with the 2Ders now studying 3D and vice versa.  Same went for Audio Sampler.  The first two days, some students got to study Ableton and Electronic Music Production, and then for the next two days they studied the art of recording in our very own Studio A.  The lunch menu on Day Three was wraps, wraps and more wraps!

One of the highlights of Bootcamp these past few years has been “Industry Night”, and this year we expanded it so most classes had representation.  Last year we only had one panel, for Animation, and while that was featured again (and the most attended panel by far), we also featured panels for Network Security, Graphic Design, Interior Design, and Digital Film and Photography.  Each featured professionals from their respective field and both students and parents were able to ask questions regarding how each person got into their field and how they can follow in their footsteps!  A lot of information was passed along, and with the positive feedback we received, this will definitely be continued next year and if possible, made bigger and better!

Thursday March 22nd was the last day of Bootcamp!  Lunch was the best yet, with Rice and Butter Chicken, Pulled Pork and Mexi-Bowls which our Bootcampers devoured in quick order!  Projects were wrapped up, student films were edited and the finishing touches were made!  And of course, Facebook friends were added!  Once classes were concluded for the day, a special “Student Showcase” began, where parents were welcome to arrive at the school, not just to pick up their children and escort them home, but to come in to the classrooms and see what their Bootcampers had been up to all week.  A lot of smiling faces and thumbs up were witnessed as the parents and Bootcampers left campus, with some sad goodbyes between new friends, with the promise of meeting back up again for Bootcamp 2019!

Enrollment for Bootcamp 2019 starts September 1st, 2018!