A big thank you to the Media Design School, Microsoft and the Teachers
Rumer Kightley 12RGW On Tuesday the 18th of August, senior students in Art design guided by Ms Ivanovich, Ms Yates and Mr Talamaivao, had the opportunity to visit Microsoft and Media Design school to gather information on the work and educational environment of both those spaces. We were given a tour of Microsoft and Media Design School extensively and given an insight into what potential careers we could lead or tertiary education we can pursue after High School.
As someone who has always been interested in Technology and Art ever since I was young, this trip was not only a wonderful experience but it was also a way to see my own hobbies and interests articulated into real jobs and displayed as real options for me to continue my own education.
At Microsoft, the tour they gave of the building showed not only how much they cherished their employees but also how their work manifested into the peaceful environment they made. The office was beautifully decorated with flowers and vibrant colours and even had a family room for employees with young children. The employees were also on a panel who shared their own experiences of their work and how they got to Microsoft, which was inspiring and thought provoking as they said none of them had originally planned for it. They also debunked any beliefs surrounding needing to know how to code to get into the tech industry and had me wondering myself if I wanted to work in tech. Microsoft gracefully accommodated us with food and beverages which was something we all appreciated.
When we arrived at Media Design School, I had the opportunity to show off my own art design board to one of the lecturers there, who helped guide me through the process of what I could do after school which was extremely helpful. They gave all of us a tour around the school, showcasing what the different courses and departments there were. We were able to see live game-testing, photos of characters students had designed, and graphic design works also done by the students themselves. Media Design School had many awards displayed on a shelf, and their school was very communal and welcoming. We were also tasked with creating characters out of objects using illustrator, which was a very fun and lovely experience and made the trip one of the best I’ve been on for school.
Paeyton Pasa 12MAN On Tuesday, we got the opportunity to go to the Media Design School and Microsoft where we got an insight into what our own future could look like if we choose to pursue careers in technology, coding, art design, animation, game design. I personally, really enjoyed going to the Media Design School and the Microsoft Office. We met new people and got to watch one of the students at the Media Design School actually show their game off through the windows, also I got the chance to watch my friend, Vanessa Luangsinhotha, win a rock paper scissors tournament against Ms Yates and Ms Ivanovich at the Microsoft Office. The Media Design school gave us our own chance to make something in their lab where we took photos of items around the area of objects of different shapes to build our own character and have a laugh over it because some of the Hamilton Boys students didn’t know how to use Illustrator. Getting to meet all these new people, even getting to hear from a former Rutherford student, Miguel Jones, was something I didn’t expect. This became one of my most memorable trips out of all of my school years. A big thank you to the Media Design School, Microsoft and the teachers that had made it possible for this trip to even happen.
Vanessa Luangsinhotha 12REL Getting to visit Microsoft and Media Design School was unforgettable. Both of them served us delicious food, gave us a tour of their buildings, had their employees speak about their experience on getting jobs there and hosted interactive workshops. Microsoft had a surprisingly fun and relaxed atmosphere, including a Paper, Scissors, Rock tournament that I won after beating both Miss Ivanovic and Miss Yates. They had a panel of five employees speaking about their experience there, and one memorable thing from the panel was that they told us that you don’t have to be the smartest or have the best grades to get into highly intelligent jobs like technology, which really touched me in ways that transcend words. Media Design School had a former Rutherford student, Miguel Jones, speak to us before we did a fun character design workshop afterwards, where we took photos of objects that formed faces and turned them into characters. The trip to Microsoft and Media Design School was an eye-opening experience. It was amazing to learn and see how people working and studying at these places managed to get there and how one day, we could be there too.
James Riini 12REL What I believe to be the most interesting part of the trip was when the Microsoft employees gave us this seminar that I found very useful and interesting because of how grounded their answers were and how personal they felt. It felt more like a conversation than a seminar because of how grounded that conversation was. It really gave us more perspectives to work with to help decide our future, as well as helping to pave the way to our potential goals of university. I would also like to mention our time at the Media Design school, which was awesome in my opinion. Getting to see what students' potential paths are in the gaming, advertising, and graphic design fields was really cool and interesting to see the process of approaching the media industry. It was definitely a pleasure to be there and talk to the teachers of the Media Design school about our future, and the employees of Microsoft about getting into university and useful words of advice that can help guide us to our goals. I wish we had more time to spend on the trip; even so, I would like to thank our teachers for organising the trip as well as giving us food, which was the best part of the trip in my opinion.
Kaleb DuRepos 12TKR It was an honor attending an Art Design trip to Microsoft and the Media Design school. Presenters at Microsoft were very welcoming and set up a panel that allowed Rutherford and Hamilton Boys to ask questions with thorough answers. The trip was very informative as it discussed ways to get into technology oriented careers and offered insight into how the Microsoft company works. The Microsoft employees had also set up a massive snack feast for us afterwards which may or may not have been our favorite part of the tour. Later, Media Design School invited us to tour their school, giving us a more diverse insight into the technologies and industries that are available for future careers. They had us involved by immersing us in different art related activities and blessed us with more kai. This was a unique experience that I and the other students who attended were extremely grateful for.
And a special thanks to Fa’avesi Talamaivao, Nina Ivanovic, and Talei Yates for making this trip possible.
