The course load at BCIT is not for the weak, but there’s an upside. You can bond with your cohort over the shared stress of assignments and exams. But outside of that, there aren’t many spaces for students to build a community. That’s where Digital Arts, Media and Design (DAMD) alumni Ubin Jung and Hidayat Patil, and former DAMD student Yurino Murakami, now pursuing a Bachelor of Creative Industries at BCIT, come in. These three creatives saw something missing in their student experience and decided to build it themselves: The Creative Room, a community where students and alumni can exchange knowledge and explore ideas.
While The Creative Room is more of a community than a physical space, its members still have a room they like to call home. On the ground floor of SE14, design students gather to eat lunch, take breaks, brainstorm, and create. This space inspired the idea behind The Creative Room.
Co-president Ubin Jung says the inspiration for The Creative Room came from the close-knit cohorts within their DAMD programs.
Jung recalls seeing the potential of bringing likeminded students together. As intense and as stressful as it might have been. We just love that energy and we just love the whole process.”
Hidayat Patil and Ubin Jung launched the initiative with a soft opening on July 4 at BCIT’s Downtown Campus.
“That was quite exciting. We didn’t know what to expect. It was like our expectations were kind of at the end of the spectrum. Either no one will show up, or a lot of people will show up and we won’t be able to handle it. But I think it was successful,” said Patil.
We kind of saw the potential of what a group of like-minded people who share the same talent could achieve.
–Ubin Jung, former BCIT Digital Arts, Media and Design (DAMD) student
Not Just Another Club
As BCIT alumni, Jung and Patil were looking for a current student who could help them with marketing. That’s where Yurino Murakami comes in. Murakami is a student in BCIT’s Bachelor of Creative Industries program and has played a key role in shaping the community. Her journey at BCIT began in the New Media Design and Web Development program, but her creative story started long before that. Growing up in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan where the winters were long and snowy, she was no stranger to getting lost in her imagination and thoughts. From reading to doodling, she always knew she wanted to do something creative. She wanted something that allowed her reconnect with her creativity.
The Creative Room was created for people like Murakami. Jung says that this industry can feel isolating and they hope to make people feel less alone. “It was part of the reason why we started it because again design is kind of introspective and it’s all about what’s going on in your head. So, it kind of gets lonely.”
The Creative Room wasn’t created just for current students, though. Jung says that the majority of their members are BCIT alumni. Through the community, alumni can mentor current students and create networking opportunities after graduation, something that can be hard to come by.
No Design Degree Required
In fact, you don’t even need to have taken a single design class to be part of the community. Jung says there are more “closeted creatives” than we think, from accounting students to engineering students. Anyone with a creative side or an interest in design can join The Creative Room.
Going forward, the members hope to grow the community even further. Patil says BCIT students often get stuck in the classroom because of their workload. “They keep working on assignments and then they don’t participate in other events out there. So, one of the small goals that I would like is for BCIT students to kind of just go out there and make a name for themselves.”
One of their short-term goals is to host a hackathon, which they see as an important milestone for a thriving design community. They also want to keep increasing their visibility inside and outside of campus. As Murakami focuses on growing the community with more marketing and outreach to other BCIT students and alumni, Jung and Patil are busy planning what comes next. Mentorship and community are obviously at the forefront of their goals, but they also want to focus on giving back to the causes they care about.
So, if you’re craving community, want to work toward something bigger than yourself and your studies, or simply want to be surrounded by like-minded people, The Creative Room could be your next favourite space.
Want to get involved? Visit thecreativeroom.org and follow @thecreativeroom.damd on Instagram to stay in the loop on upcoming meetups, events, and opportunities to connect with fellow creatives!
Written by Navaeh Wellington and Leslie Rose, Link writers and BCIT Broadcast and Journalism students, in conversation with The Creative Room.
