As we come to an end of our program and we graduate as the first students in DMP, I wanted to reminisce and tell you guys a couple of my favourite memories I have from this program!

The first memory is of the first day of college and I made my first friend, Adam. We were in my teacher Mikes class and we had to partner up and shoot some video’s around the school. I remember being extremely nervous and shy. Adam and I were paired together, picked up our equipment and we each took turns filming different angles of the college. About ten minutes in, Adam looked at me and asked me what my name was. We talked the whole time and got to know each other! The next day we sat beside each other and talked some more. Eventually, we got to know other people in the class, but I still see him as my first friend in DMP. He always makes me laugh and he’s always there for me and everyone else. He is one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met! There is no one quite like Adam!

The second memory that I wanted to share was the time my class all worked together to finish a course. We all had a class called Web Design Development 1 and believe me when I say that this was one of the hardest classes that I have ever taken! The teacher was amazing, but unfortunately his teaching methods were too advanced for students who have never coded before. It felt like everything he was saying was a different language, even though I tried so hard to understand it, I just couldn’t.

I had to get a tutor and some things were starting to make sense until the very last assignment. We had to create two web pages that linked together and that had a specific design. When I brought the assignment to my tutor, even she said that this assignment was more advanced for her and she only knew how to do it one way. She taught me how to do it a different way than how my teacher had taught us, but I would’ve gotten marks deducted. I kept that copy as a backup in case I was able to figure out how to do the assignment “the proper way”.

The day before the assignment was due, my whole class was in our lab trying to figure out how to finish this assignment. We were helping each other and trying to find different ways to code. Some of us went down to Michele to ask her for help. We were panicking and struggling, and our web teacher wasn’t answering our emails. We were lost. Michele ended up bringing someone in who was amazing at coding and he was also extremely confused about this assignment. He worked on one of our assignments for a couple of hours and figured it out to the best of his ability. We all were able to look at what he did and figured out how to complete the assignment.

Fortunately for me, it was the same exact way that my tutor had shown me, so if I got marks taken off for it, then so did everyone else. My favourite part about this situation was how we came together and helped each other out. We really felt closer than we ever were. It felt like we were more of a family than a class. I will never forget that day.

The last memory that I wanted to share were the goodbyes that my teachers had to tell us online because of Covid-19. As we come to an end, my teachers have all thanked us and told us we were an amazing group of students. They continued to tell us how they were proud of us and wished the best for us. I tried to stay strong, but every time we all left the conversation, reality barged in and it became true that this was almost over and I would start to cry. 

I know that most of us will keep in touch, but it’s really hard to say goodbye, especially to the people who have been there for you and with you for the last two years. 

We are definitely more than just a class; we are a family.

Even though this is a sad memory, it is still one of my favourite memories because it makes me look back on everything we have been through and I will cherish every single moment! 

So, in ending this blog, I wanted to say to my teachers and fellow classmates, thank you. Thank you for being a big part of my life and creating memories together that I will never forget. Thank you for being there through the ups and downs. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for making this the best years of my life. You all will be in my heart forever and always. I will never forget any of you and please stay in touch! Love you guys so much ❤ 

Love,

Jade 

From the college striking two years ago, everyone was very overwhelmed to hear that there was a deadly virus going around. This is our last year/semester after all and if the college closed, we weren’t too sure if we would still graduate on time. My program in particular has an internship afterwards and due to the virus we may not be able to travel to complete them.

The news has been buzzing about the coronavirus and letting everyone know about the deaths and what country it is affecting at the moment. It almost seems like every news report is about the virus. In my opinion, I think the news is making everyone paranoid, but at the same time it is preparing us for the worst case scenario.

There is also absolutely no toilet paper or canned food anywhere. This is also very concerning! You would think that the Zombie Apocolypse is upon us! Since people are becoming paranoid and a lockdown for our city might happen, people are buying in bulk.

Yesterday on March 14th/2020, the college announced that the school will be closed and online classes will commence on the 23rd. However, I’m not too sure how my class will be able to complete some major projects because we need the equipment provided at the college. This is a major concern for me and my whole class. All we want to do is graduate.

Currently, I am typing on my computer trying to finish all of my online assignments waiting for more answers. That’s all we can do, sit patiently and wait. Hopefully, this will all be over soon and we can all get back to our lives.

All I can say is that this year has been crazy! To think that this is my last year is blowing my mind. I never thought I would make it this far, especially not in the Digital Media Production Program. I always thought I would go to music school at Lakehead University and become a singer. I never thought I would have a career at Dougall Media or that I would meet my best friend in college.

Currently, I am a full-time student working three jobs. It isn’t easy to juggle everything and sometimes I feel like I’m drowning in homework. When I feel like this, I just have to remind myself that I am strong and I can do it. I just need to pick myself up and create a schedule. I have a monthly planner and it has definitely saved my life more than once.

Most of my classes this semester have been pretty slow and relaxing. This was a huge change from the previous year and last semester. Last semester was the most hectic semester that I have ever experienced! I had two of the hardest classes on the exact same day, then at the end of the semester, we had to show our class our completed project and we had a huge exam. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger I guess haha!

I do feel a lot more confident now than I did in my first year though. When I first started this program, I had no idea how to do anything and now when I watch movies or YouTube videos, I find myself critiquing them or seeing something I was taught in class and explaining to the person next to me how they edit a specific scene.

In my classes now, we are mainly working with clients and and doing on air livestreams. I am used to the livestreams because we’ve done them every year, but I have never worked with a client before this semester. Working with clients has been an amazing experience! I love making people happy and being able to make our clients happy with the content we are providing is incredible.

Overall, from my experience with the Digital Media Production Program, I feel confident, happy, enthusiastic, and excited. I am super excited to graduate and I can’t wait to see where life takes me!

In one of my classes, we were tasked to get into groups and pick a client to work with to create an event. My group and I all agreed on working with Adopt a Mutt Rescue and I can honestly say that I was super excited to work with such an amazing organization!

Before we reached out to the organization, we, as a group, had to plan the event we wanted to host and plan how we were going to promote the event. We had A LOT of research to do. Eventually, our group figured out a foolproof plan and we were finally able to reach out to the owner of Adopt a Mutt.

After about a day of waiting for a response, they answered and agreed to meet with us to hear our plan out. Finding out that Adopt a Mutt actually wanted to hear what we had to offer them was amazing and we were all jumping for joy! We ended up making a powerpoint presentation and a hard copy for them to follow while we explained our plans.

When we first introduced our idea, the owner of the company told us that she loved the idea and that it was the perfect theme! The meeting took about 1/2-1 hour and we were all bouncing ideas off of each other. The best feeling was when they told us that we would be in contact!

A couple of weeks later, Adopt a Mutt and our group confirmed the date and place of the event, Saturday, April 4th / 2020 at Pet Value on Arthur street. They made a Facebook event page and we are currently in the process of creating content to promote the event.

We are all very excited for the event and we can’t wait for you guys to see what we have planned!

Recently, I was a model for an eyelash extensions course. My mom took the course at Dust Studio and asked me if I could model for her and of course I said Yes. When I first got to the business, I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve seen eyelash extensions before on my friends and they always looks great, but apparently they are a lot of work to take care of.

Before my mom put the eyelashes on me, I was told that once the eyelashes were glued on, I couldn’t shower for 24-48 hours afterwards, I wasn’t able to put on oil based makeup or the eyelashes would come off, I couldn’t rub my eyes or sleep with my face in my pillow, I had to shower with oil free shampoo, because once again, the oil would take off the eyelashes, and I would have to come back every 1-2 weeks to get them refilled.

During the process of getting the eyelashes on, I had to lay on a massage table and I couldn’t move at all. The bottom of my eyes were taped down so that the glue wouldn’t stick my eyes together. My eyes also had to be closed while she glued the fake eyelashes on because the chemicals would burn my eyeballs (and believe me when I say that they will burn and you will cry!).

When my mom was putting the eyelashes on me, I felt so relaxed and to be completely honest, I was falling asleep lol! It took about two and a half hours to finish both of my eyes and it was totally worth it! My eyelashes looked amazing and it really made my eye colour pop.

I would say the only flaw with getting them is the price it takes to keep up with them, but they have so many great pros. One example is that they look like you’re already wearing makeup, so you don’t need to wear any. This would save so many people some time getting ready in the morning!

Anyways, I was and still am extremely happy with how they turned out and I definitely recommend getting eyelash extensions!

Starting the DMP program, I never expected to focus my diploma on makeup. Actually, I never knew what I would achieve with my diploma. I was very interested in editing as well as filming, but I wanted to do something more. Something more unique and colourful! I bought a new palette recently and it hasn’t come in yet, although I did do some subtle makeup looks for class.

For this look, I used my huda beauty eyeliner, my mon Sieur mascara, and my Too Faced Gingerbread man lipstick. I was really pleased with how this look turned out. It is one of my more natural makeup looks and it matches my outfit perfectly.

For this look I used my huda beauty eyeliner, my mon Sieur mascara, and my Shane Dawson lipstick in the shade: Jeffree, What the F***. I absolutely love this look, mainly because I am wearing the lipstick created by one of my favourite YouTubers, Shane Dawson.

Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star are the two people who inspired me to start a career in makeup. However, makeup isn’t the only thing that sparks my interest. I’m also extremely interested in nails, eyelashes, and running my own business altogether.

I have always been interested in the beauty community, but these two stars really sparked my interest. My mom is also extremely interested in the beauty industry and she has practiced her skills on me (But that’s for another blog post!).

After school, I want to open my own salon and use my skills I’ve learned in the DMP program to promote my business. I can’t wait to find out what the future has in store for me.

During Christmas break from school, I was scrolling through one of the apps on my phone and I came across a cute little chihuahua/Shit Zhu cross for sale. He was the cutest puppy I have ever seen and I just knew I had to have him.

There were many factors that went through my mind as well, like, will I be able to take care of him?, be there for him even when I had classes and work?, or even care for his needs? I also had to think about how my other dogs would handle a new puppy in the house.

Even though I knew that this puppy would be A LOT of work, I still believed that I could manage everything. My dad offered to take me to get him and so we drove 9.5 hours to Winnipeg and picked him up. When I first laid my eyes on him, he was extremely small and happy. It was almost like he knew I was there for him. When I picked him up for the first time, I thought I was going to break him because he was smaller than I expected. When we brought him into the truck, he was shaking and scared but he soon calmed down once he realized he was safe.

We got back home and I had to start school the next day. I didn’t want to leave him, but I knew I had to. I left him at home with my other dogs and when I got back home from school he was the happiest puppy I have ever seen. We played, cuddled, and went for a walk. The rest of the week went great and that was when I knew that I could go to school and still give him the best life I could.

I can honestly say that since I got Cisco, he has made me happier and more motivated to do things. He has made my college experience brighter and has even inspired me to start practicing photography.

Also, instead of worrying about him and school clashing, he makes school feel so much easier. He is the best thing that’s happened to me.

In the second year and second semester of the Digital Media Program, I have a course named Community Corporate Projects. In this course, my class have all been placed into different groups for different clients.

I was very lucky to be put into a group with my two teammates, Carson and Braydon. They are both very talented and I believe that we all work very well together. We all have something to bring to the table! On top of having great group members, we also have the best client ever! Her name is Margot!

Margot runs her business based on body and mind. She helps train older women in leading a healthier lifestyle.

For our client, we were tasked to create an Instagram account and create content for the account as well. Almost every Friday, my team and I will go out with Margot and have a photo shoot. We have had shoots at Margot’s houses and at the conservatory. My favourite shoot was at the conservatory because it was so beautiful and colourful. Braydon and Carson are usually the ones taking the photos and editing them and I have the role of confirming the images with Margot and posting the photos on the Instagram account.

For the account, we post three times a week. Sadly, for the past two weeks, we have been on break and in Toronto, so we were unable to post. However, since we are back at school, we can start fresh and post again!

I am extremely excited to start posting again because now we are starting to post videos to promote her summit that is happening very soon. We will receive some interview footage from Margot and edit the footage to showcase what the summit is about. We will now be posting videos three times a week, which is definitely a nice change from just photos.

Unfortunately, our class ends on April 8th and we’ll have to say goodbye to Margot. That will be a very sad day, but I can’t say that we won’t work together again someday. Never say never!

If anyone is interested in finding out what Margot has to offer, please feel free to check out her Instagram account: Margot.freitag. She is an amazing person and she may be able to help you out too, who knows!

We all have a course which involves working for clients. Unfortunately, one of the group members involved in this team endured an injury and couldn’t make it to their shoot/interview. Without the team member, they only had two people to lug around equipment and set up their production. Michele, the teacher of this class, asked if anyone could volunteer to help them out at 8:30am on a Sunday. I volunteered because I know how hard it is to go on a shoot with only two people.

Sunday morning came and I met with the other team members in the cage for their crew call. We grabbed the equipment, packed it onto a truck, and headed for the Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church.

When we arrived, we made sure everything was unpacked and set up properly. We got a bunch of different shots of the choir singing and of people walking into the church. When the ceremony began we sat and watched, until the ceremony was almost over and we went downstairs to set up for interviews.

They had a nice room where we set up the camera and lighting. The only conflict that we had with the room was that it was too small. No matter what angle we put the light, it didn’t look right. Although the lighting wasn’t the best, we did the best we could with what we had. We ended up putting the light right beside the camera because it was the only place that didn’t cast a harsh shadow or was too bright. It looked more natural.

Once we finished setting up, we asked if there was anyone who would like to be interviewed. We ended up interviewing three people, but unfortunately the camera wasn’t recording for one of them. oops. However, the other two interviewees had tons of information for us and could talk forever! It was so fascinating to hear about the history of the church!

When we finished the interviews, we packed all of the equipment and brought it back to the cage. Both of the team members thanked me for helping them out and we all went our separate ways.

I am really happy that I got to help out my classmates and gained some more experience. I had a great time!

On the day of the Special Olympics opening ceremonies, my class and I had another crew call . Since all of our equipment was at the Fort William Gardens, we met a little later in the morning and left the college at 12:00pm.

We all arrived at the Gardens around the same time and started making sure all of the equipment was working. The olympics people were also putting up the chairs when we arrived and we all thought that it was going to cause a problem for the camera space. Fortunately, everything was going smoothly and we didn’t need to move/remove any of the cameras.

Meanwhile, backstage where the switcher was, we had to make sure a couple more cables were connected properly and we had to make sure that all of the cameras were showing a signal. It took about 3 hours to make sure that the cameras were working and everything was connected and set up properly. By this time, we all took a break and ate some food.

We finally finished setting up all of our equipment and had nothing left to do except wait for the show to start. Although, I was a bit concerned about my position because now that everything was perfect, my job was over. I asked Mike if there was anything else I could do and he told me that the special Olympics people needed help with their audio for their livestream. I was so nervous and excited for this new task given to me.

During the show, I had to keep track of the levels and make sure that they were in the green area and didn’t hit the red or yellow areas. At first, it was a little confusing because I had to find the perfect spot for each voice and I had to follow along with who was talking and when a video was going to play. Eventually, I got the hang of it and I really enjoyed myself.

It was also a very new experience for me to be backstage and still being able to watch the show. There is also a special feeling about knowing that you are controlling what people viewed on their livestream. All in all, it was a magical experience that I will never forget.

When the show ended and everyone had left the building, we all started to pack up our equipment and placed it in the U-haul. We all headed to the school to unpack the truck and we brought all of the equipment to the web station. We all had smiles on our faces and congratulated each other for doing a good job.