Summer Camp, My Prologue to DMA

At the start of my freshman year at Huntington University, as soon as I sat down in the animation lab in Becker Hall, my first thought was “it’s good to be back.” The summer before, I had already got a feel for working in the Department of Digital Media Arts (DMA) at the School of the Arts Summer Academy.

The Academy is split into three tracks: animation, film and television production, and voice-over and radio. The camp lasted for five days. In that time, I designed and animated a bird, animated with sand, 3D modeled a castle (which was not that great, in all honesty), made some funky circles move in After Effects, and digitally sculpted a screaming man onto a coin. We got to take home a 3D print of the coin, too.

In addition to the projects, animation camp also helped me adjust to living on campus when the academic year started. I got to know some professors, got a sense of the residence halls, familiarized myself with the equipment and software, and made some friends who I got to see again when school started. Coming to camp also helped me confirm that this major at this school was right for me. Sure, I had already committed to this university, but I still felt more secure in my decision afterwards.

I am not trying to pander to the school when I say I recommend this camp for anyone interested in DMA, even if you are not interested in applying to Huntington University right now. I also know some of my friends volunteered as camp counselors last summer, so if you want to help out, you could be a camp counselor and introduce the campers to whatever shenanigans you are up to in your DMA program.

If you want to learn more, visit huntington.edu/Camps.