College for Arts and Technology’s annual Digital Bootcamp has come and gone, yet again. This year we had more Bootcampers than ever join us for 4 days of fun, educational exploration into the digital arts. With almost 150 high school students on campus, CAT was buzzing with activity as these young creatives explored programs such as 2D Animation & Digital Art, Audio Engineering & Production, Network Security, Digital Photography, Digital Filmmaking and more!

Like previous years, Bootcampers from all over Western Canada along with their parents gathered together for Orientation, led by Campus President; Martin Theiss. After introductions and a brief overview of the week to come, Bootcampers were off to their “missions”. All missions were led by our team of dedicated industry professional instructors, and Bootcampers were guided through various learning tasks and finished the week with take home projects they could share and be proud of!

Mission ran from 9:00am until 4:00pm daily, but that doesn’t mean the fun stopped there. Several evening events also took place to round out the festivities. Tuesday evening was the “Crazy Fun Party Night” which gives Bootcampers a chance to let loose and get to know each other and…ahem…nerd out. There was a Playstation set up, movies playing in the lecture theatre on the big screen, a dance party in the student lounge and Magic The Gathering cards ready for battle.

Wednesday night was our Industry Night where Bootcampers and their parents were able to connect with panels of industry experts, alumni and current CAT students to get an understanding of the careers and industries they see themselves in in the future. We trialed this event in 2015 which just an animation panel; it was such a huge success, we decided to do it again this year, but will all programs represented. Stations were set up around campus where visitors could meander, enjoy student and instructor art, listen to live music (performed by a CAT student) and of course attend the industry panels.

Bootcamp is exhausting for all of us at CAT; not only because of the sheer amount of planning and teamwork required, but because we put our heart and soul in to this event. The connections made with these passionate youths is so inspiring and it makes us all proud to offer this event year and after year. And it’s comments like these that make it all worth while:

Want in on the fun? Keep an eye on www.digitalartschool.com to register for Bootcamp 2017!