It’s almost time for the students of the Masters of Digital Media (MDM) program on the Great Northern Way Campus (GNWC) to relax for the holidays. For many, it will be a welcome – and perhaps foreign – change, after the intensity of the fall 2008 semester.

After a grueling semester, measured in terms of project deadlines, the Next Gen students can finally take a deep breath; today marks the first day since the beginning of the semester that they have only one project left to finish. Of course, this last project – their final Building Virtual Worlds (BVW) project – is a big one. Next Gen student Bryant Davey had this to say: “I feel a strange mix of excitement and uncertainty. Excitement because my team is working with a relatively unexplored concept for our last BVW project, and I want to see it succeed; uncertainty because there's only one week left, and I have no idea how people are going to react to our project.”

There is a similar sentiment amongst the Firstborn cohort, who is now nearing the end of the second batch of industry-sponsored projects. Two of the five teams have already completed their final requirements with considerable success, but for the three that remain there is still the question of how each project will be received by its client in the final days.

Endings though, are often accompanied by beginnings. There is a sense of anticipation and excitement amongst both the Firstborn and the Next Gen cohort. “Instead of feeling relieved that the semester is almost over, I feel little sentimental,” says Christine Jung of the Next Gen cohort. “Normally people concentrate on the “end” instead of “means,” but I tried to enjoy every step of the way.  I’m very proud of our cohort’s projects thus far and expect even more wonderful things from this extremely talented crowd.  The future industry projects are going to be great challenges for everyone to find their natural talents.  I look forward to working with industry professionals and new teams.”

Ashley Blacquiere is a Firstborn MDM student.  'In Silico' is Latin for 'via a computer simulation'.