Student

Alexia Bowie

School/Division	Division of Information Technology & Sciences
Class	2025
Pronouns	She/Her/Hers
Home State	Nevada

Favorite Class

Digital Forensic Analysis

Why does your field matter?

As technology and crime grows, the world needs and deserves a group of people to be able to properly analyze different incidents related to the digital world, and do it well. At Champlain, I can honestly say I have been set up for the best in terms of placing my foot in the door to professional experiences and helping others in the best way possible.

So far, what classes, projects, or experiences have been most impactful for you?

The classes that have been the most impactful, specifically, are my Core classes. In these classes, I have honestly learned some of the most eye-opening and interesting concepts such as the importance of culture, different kinds of sciences, and philosophy. I began to view the world differently and more positively upon completing the courses, and I genuinely appreciate those experiences so much.

What do you want to be ready for upon graduation, and how is Champlain helping you get there?

Upon graduation, I want to be ready to enter a professional environment and willing to take advantage of opportunities given to me. Champlain has helped and pushed me toward getting there by the various programs they have offered to me, dedicated to establishing a professional image and presenting new opportunities to people like me.

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Erika Brown

School/Division	Division of Communication & Creative Media
Class	2020
Pronouns	She/Her/Hers
Home State	New Hampshire
Study Abroad	Dublin, Ireland

Specializations

Editing & Publishing/Creative Writing & Literature

How did you first hear about Champlain?

I first came to Champlain for the Champlain Young Writers’ Conference in 2015. It was my first time ever hearing about Champlain or visiting the campus. The conference was an opportunity to stay on campus for the weekend (I slept in Butler), go to workshops in the classrooms, and roam around the campus to explore it on my own time. We were able to eat in the dining hall, and I remember consuming a lot of pizza bagels that weekend!

What do you like about your major?

I love this program because it has allowed me to make incredible friends. I’ve never been surrounded by people who had similar interests as I do. This writing community is constantly encouraging one another to read work, swap drafts, give critique, provide edits, and help each other grow. We all have admiration for one another. We don’t see each other as competition, but as collaborators. I love being able to go into our Discord server and say “Hey, I’m not feeling confident in this draft. Could you all help me?”—and they do!

Have you worked on-campus in either a part-time or work-study position?

I’ve been working in Compass Student Services since my first year. When I started, it was the Enrollment Services Center. In the past few years, I’ve watched and helped build the Compass office into something more identifiable and resourceful for students.
In the summer of 2018, I was asked to join the Class of 2022’s Facebook page to help answer questions, concerns, and provide guidance on the Summer To-Dos. There’s a lot to be done before a student gets to campus, and it can be overwhelming and confusing. Then, I joined the Champlain Parents and Families Facebook Group. Parents tend to have more questions about what needs to be done, how to do it, and when it’s due. I started answering their questions, calming their concerns, and connecting them with the appropriate person if I couldn’t answer. That was two years ago, and I have a cult-like following with them. I am often their first point of contact and their primary resource. I love talking to them over the summer and getting to meet them during Orientation. Sometimes, parents will call the office and ask for me directly. I’ve had parents bring me flowers and cookies.
Nothing brings me greater joy than helping a student or a parent. For some, this is their first child going off to college. There is a lot of trust there, and I want students to love being at Champlain as much as I do.

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Madi Brumbelow

School/Division	Division of Information Technology & Sciences
Class	2021
Pronouns	She/They
Home State	North Carolina
Study Abroad	Shanghai, China

Specialization

Threats & Mitigation

Internships

Capgemini Invent in Shanghai, China and Global Technology Summer Analyst with Bank of America, Charlotte, NC

Favorite Class

Malware Analysis

Post-Grad Job

Global Technology Analyst with Bank of America

What is your favorite class you’ve taken at Champlain?

My favorite class that I have taken at Champlain was the Malware Analysis course. In this class, we analyzed real pieces of malware in controlled environments and learned ways to detect, evaluate, and remove these malicious files from computers. My favorite part of this course was when we got to look at ransomware-this is a very common threat right now, and it is helpful to learn how these types of malware work!

What was your study-abroad experience like?

My study-abroad experience stemmed from the Freeman Foundation Grant in the summer of 2019. I completed an internship abroad with Capgemini Invent in Shanghai, China. In addition, I took a few courses on Chinese Language and Culture at East China Normal University. This experience was extremely valuable as part of my overall education because I experienced living and working in the biggest city in the world! I learned how to navigate a workplace at a large, international company and how to meet, interact with, and communicate with top-level executives. I also learned about China’s history, culture, language, and the importance they play in the world currently.

Can you tell us more about any other internships you’ve had?

I have also been a Global Technology Summer Analyst with Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina. During this internship, I collaborated virtually with team members, cohorts, and managers to complete projects dealing with data literacy, visualization, optimization, and environmental and social justice. I learned and developed cybersecurity attack and defense skills, including the usage of Kali Linux tools and Kibana, as well as developed skills in Microsoft Excel, Python, teamwork, and collaboration.

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Cat Butrick

School/Division	Division of Communication & Creative Media
Class	2021
Pronouns	She/Her/Hers
Home State	Connecticut
Study Abroad	Sevilla, Spain

Specialization

Editing & Publishing

Internship

SolidarityWorks in Drugan, Bulgaria

What do you like about the Professional Writing program?

I love how practical all my classes are. We don’t just talk about theory; we actually implement the techniques we discuss. In the creative writing classes I’ve taken, we read poetry aloud; we act it out, and Jim Ellefson (who usually teaches these classes) shows us how to submit our own work. In almost every class I’ve taken, we create a tangible product that we can use in our careers.

How has the Upside-Down Curriculum enhanced your education?

The Upside-Down Curriculum is responsible for almost every single experience listed on my resume. I took six major-related classes my first year, so I was prepared to take on editorial roles at student publications or assume a campus leadership position much quicker-and more skillfully-than I would have at another school. My Core classes also really helped shape my interests. I came into Champlain wanting to be a developmental editor, but my relationship with one of my Core professors, Aziz Fatnassi, led me to an internship with a Bulgarian NGO where I learned I actually want to work in the nonprofit world.

How was your study abroad experience valuable as part of your overall education?

I studied abroad for two months in Sevilla, Spain during the Spring 2020 semester. Living with a host family really taught me how to communicate with others from different cultures and how to make connections with those who live a drastically different life than myself. Studying abroad also taught me how to be more outgoing and go after what I want. It taught me to let loose and have fun sometimes, and that life isn’t all about work.

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Ariana Calder

School/Division	Division of Communication & Creative Media
Programs	Graphic Design & Visual Communication BFA Degree
Class	2025
Pronouns	She/They
Home State	Massachusetts

Internship

Social Media Intern at Payverse

Favorite Class

Intro to Typography

What opportunities have allowed you to apply classroom learning to real-world settings in your field?

I did an internship over the summer, where I still work now! I manage social media and create content for a fintech company called Payverse. It’s been interesting to grow my skills in brand identity and learn a little about an industry that I had no background knowledge on before I began. It’s been wonderful to bring my typography and hierarchy skills into a space that really needs it.

Looking back, what advice would you give a new or incoming Champlain student?

My main advice for a new Champlain student is to really walk around campus and Burlington as a whole! It can be daunting coming here and having all the freedom in the world all of a sudden, and may make a lot of us (including me) just want to stay in our rooms sometimes. But Burlington is so beautiful, and while it’s a lot of walking, I can confidently say so much of my college experience has been made by discovering new places, after walking maybe a little too far.

Describe your ultimate career aspiration, job, or accomplishment in your field.

My ultimate career aspiration is to have my own graphic design business where I can sustain myself by working at home, creating my own hours, and traveling to places that I’ve always wanted to go. Of course, this comes with a lot of development and networking, so immediately after college I’d like to first find a design firm to really grow my skills in interacting with clientele. In order to become a great designer, you need to be adaptive, communicative, creative, and understanding of just how much impact your work really has. Through continuing to foster my work ethic and develop my skills, I really do believe this dream will be possible.

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Zoe Campos

School/Division	Division of Communication & Creative Media
Programs	Game Design Degree
Class	2025

Personal note

As a first generation immigrant and college student, learning and gaining experience is a privilege that I will never take for granted.

What's your favorite book, movie or podcast?

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

Interests

Writing and game making are my two passions, and I love the combination of arts and technology.

What is your favorite game?

Mother 3

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Charlie Carucci

School/Division	Division of Communication & Creative Media
Programs	Game Design Degree
Class	2018
Pronouns	He/Him/His
Home State	Connecticut

Specialization

Sonic Arts

Internship

Game Design Intern at Insomniac Games in Burbank, CA

Post-Grad Job

Associate Designer at Insomniac Games in Burbank, CA

What is the best thing about the professors in the Game Design program?

The professors at Champlain all have experience in the industry. They can talk to us and say, “Listen, when I worked at EA…” or “When I was working on Myst, this is how we did things.” Plus, since they have been in the industry, they have connections at big companies—your professors can actually help you land a job after graduation.

Can you tell us about your internship?

During my internship at Insomniac Games, I did a lot of hands-on work for the new Spider-Man game for PS4. The work I did mostly involved level design and scripting using Insomniac’s visual scripting language. I also attended weekly design meetings, participated in feedback playthroughs for different missions of the game, and worked with several departments in the studio.
The most rewarding part of my internship was getting to watch the gameplay demo for Spider-Man close the 2017 E3 Sony Conference. I couldn’t stop smiling and thinking about the fact that I hadn’t even started my senior year of college yet, and a game I’d been working on was one of the most impressive games shown at E3.

How did Champlain prepare you for the professional world?

Skills I learned in my production classes—like working on a development team, using version control, and becoming familiar with the development cycle—made it easy for me to adjust to Insomniac’s way of working. Even beyond the classroom, getting involved with different parts of the college through my work as a Student Ambassador taught me how to be a productive member of a team who communicates when I need help. These are skills that I used every day at my internship. I’m confident that everything I have done at Champlain has prepared me to be a successful part of the game industry.

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Roger Castillo

School/Division	Division of Communication & Creative Media
Programs	Filmmaking Degree
Class	2020
Pronouns	He/Him/His
Home State	Pennsylvania
Study Abroad	Dublin, Ireland

Internship

Video Intern at Champlain College Marketing in Burlington, VT

Favorite Class

Directing & Acting for the Screen

How did you choose your major?

I chose the arts as my field because of my passion and drive to create. I didn’t know I wanted to major in Filmmaking until I was told by an Admissions Counselor to focus on my day-to-day activities, that my calling was in there somewhere. I noticed that I’d already been watching and studying films way before I was remotely interested in going to school in that field.

What has been your experience with the Filmmaking program?

I truly love the Upside-Down Curriculum—it gave me the opportunity to feed the beast that has been my artistic ambition since my first semester. The professors are a valuable and important part of my experience because they are all working professionals with an abundance of knowledge about how our industry is run.
I also value the connections I built with my peers. Because of the need for collaboration in filmmaking, we were all working on each other’s projects and bouncing new and fun ideas off of each other. The element of competition is removed from the curriculum, which is great because it allows us to help one another grow.

How has Champlain prepared you for the professional world?

Champlain has taught me the patience, techniques, and networking skills that are essential to jump-starting my career. I’ve had opportunities to work on student films, indie films, and even industry commercial work. This experience paired with my degree will definitely give me a leg up over other candidates for similar positions. The Career Collaborative is also a great aid to students, especially those who want to get started early.

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Juliette Cavanaugh

School/Division	Division of Communication & Creative Media
Class	2019
Pronouns	She/Her/Hers
Study Abroad	Auckland, New Zealand

Specialization

Motion Graphics

Internship

Graphic Design Intern at Burlington City Arts in Burlington, VT

How did you pick your major?

I’ve always been a creative person and graphic design seemed like a great way to express that creativity both in the classroom and in the professional field.Initially, there are a lot of preliminary steps you need to take, such as learning how to navigate certain software or how to articulate design language. Learning those skills early on has allowed me to hone my design skills and become more confident in my field.

What has been your experience with the Core Curriculum at Champlain?

While focusing on my major is obviously important, I think that being aware of what is going on around you-both locally and globally-is just as important. Especially being a graphic designer, I feel that I’m very aware of this because I know images can easily transcend cultural and language barriers. They’re universal. Because of this, it’s important to recognize who your audience is and how your work might be interpreted around the world.

Have you had any internships?

I was the Graphic Design Intern at Burlington City Arts in the summer of 2017. My duties included creating promotional materials for events and exhibitions, digital signage and social media assets, as well as printing vinyl signage for events, classrooms and office spaces. I also helped set up and run the Festival of Fools, which takes place on Church Street every summer. Seeing my designs all over Church Street was very exciting and rewarding for me.

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Erin Chaput

School/Division	Division of Communication & Creative Media
Programs	Graphic Design & Visual Communication BFA Degree
Class	2023
Pronouns	She/Her/Hers
Home State	New Hampshire

Internship

Graphic Designer for Champlain’s Office of Advancement

So far, what classes, projects, subjects, or experiences have been most meaningful or impactful? What action or change have they inspired?

One project that has been very meaningful was a book I had to design involving opposite concepts. I picked the subject of mental health, specifically suicide, and used this design as a opportunity to showcase the ways in which media romanticizes this very serious topic. I put this concept against the reality of suicide and Division of Information Technology & Sciences impacts on the person and families. I was really passionate about this book and even had a physical copy of it printed, and I think it is one of my more successful pieces to date. It showcases the realities of this subject and why we shouldn’t let the media glorify it the way it does.

What is something you’ve grown to be proud of while here?

Something I’ve grown to be proud of is my work. When I first started design, I was confident, but not in my work Division of Information Technology & Scienceself. I was confident in my ability to critique design and see things critically. Champlain has helped me harness and expand on that ability and has even helped me find a direction I want to go in using that skill. This has given me more confidence in my design work.

Why did you choose Champlain for studying Visual Communication Design?

When I went on a tour of Champlain, I was really impressed by the work that was up as well as the qualifications the design professors have. They have lived out long design careers and have worked with many different companies. This was extremely compelling as a student who had no idea what sort or company or position I’d want in the design world.

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