'Champlain Abroad Montreal' Turns 10

Cultural and Professional Internship Opportunities Abound For Champlain College Study Abroad Students at Montreal Campus

MONTREAL, Quebec (10/10/2017) — Champlain College will celebrate the 10th anniversary of opening its Montreal campus on Oct. 12 with a special exhibit and reception at Phi Centre. The evening will highlight the work of Champlain's Game Studio students, showcase 10 years of career success stories, thank industry partners, and mark the next chapter in charting the future of emergent media for its students.

Champlain College President Donald J. Laackman and Provost and Senior Vice President for Academics Laurie Quinn will lead the delegation of trustees, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters from Vermont who will head north from Burlington, Vt., for the celebration.

"It has been a fruitful partnership these past 10 years for our students and Montreal and we are looking forward to celebrating that, the next decade and beyond, " Laackman said. "The educational experiences we offer in one of the world's great cities among so many leaders in the field of emergent media makes spending a semester abroad irresistible to many of our students. Add in the rich cultural experiences that Montreal offers and we have a proven winner when it comes to a study abroad experience for our students."

Champlain College boasts a robust Game Studio program, in which students learn to develop video games for mobile, console, and PC platforms. That is one of the reasons Champlain College officials chose Montreal for its first permanent international presence.

During the past decade, 645 Champlain College students have spent time living, studying and working at 131 internships with such Montreal companies as Ubisoft, Gameloft, Minority Media, and Tuque Games. Many of those students have gone on to get jobs with some 50 companies in Montreal as a result of internships and relationships developed during their study abroad experiences.

Eva Fahantidou '17 graduated from the Game Design Program last May, having spent her entire Junior year in the Montreal program. Now, she's a rookie Level Designer at a major game studio in the city. "Montreal is so much fun! I found it was the perfect balance between American daily life and European culture. I love how much there is to do at all times and the fact that there are so many events taking place all around the city. I loved the food and the culture and there are so many opportunities for game majors. I had a ton of fun with my friends when we were up here and I was excited to experience more of it. Where I work now has always been my dream company, and even though I never expected to actually work here this early in my career, I knew I wanted to work in one of the gaming companies in Montreal."

For senior Colton Orr, a Game Art student who spent his full junior year in Montreal, two moments stand out: "The first was a fantastic conversation I had with my future mentor while visiting Tuque Games on a company tour. The second moment happened when someone at Tuque saw a character I made for a class (a digital sculpture that was made while taking a class with one of the senior character artists at Bioware). Champlain's program and faculty have never let me down and they continue to impress me every year with their willingness to work one on one with students."

In addition to the traditional fall and spring semester study abroad programs, Champlain College also offers a month-long Summer cultural program in Montreal, along with a summer filmmaking program.

Courses offered at Champlain Abroad Montreal are designed to fit across all majors while providing a broad focus on Canadian topics that take advantage of the city's many cultural and professional opportunities. Courses in French language and culture also help students immerse and engage with the city and its people.

Learn more about the Champlain Abroad Montreal programs at https://www.champlain.edu/academics/international-education/champlain-abroad/champlain-abroad-montreal For more information, contact Ryan Hipgrave, Assistant Campus Director, at rhipgrave@champlain.edu or 514-267-9251

For more information about the Champlain Abroad Program and the Office of International Education, contact Noah Goldblatt at oie@champlain.edu

About Champlain College: Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and over 90 residential undergraduate and online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 382 Colleges: 2018 Edition. For the third year in a row, Champlain was named a "Most Innovative School" in the North by U.S. News & World Report's 2018 "America's Best Colleges," and an "A+ School for B Students" and is ranked in the top 100 Regional Universities of the North. Champlain is also featured in the Fiske Guide to Colleges for 2018 as one of the "best and most interesting schools" in the United States, Canada and Great Britain and is a 2018 College of Distinction. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu.

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