15 Ways Prague College Students and Staff Came Together in 2020

As tradition has it our Student Services Specialist, Ry Hallada, has offered to share his view on the top moments of the year at Prague College while offering a few words on the initiatives, challenges, and of course the success that our community has shared in 2020. Take a look, and click on any image to see full albums or get more details! 

"This year's annual theme, #ComingTogether, represents our community's collective effort to overcome the various changes and obstacles that have presented themselves all over the world. They have manifested in many different forms both for individuals as well as for society as a whole. Terms like "distance", "hybrid" and "remote" all became rather common as they each took on slightly different meaning than they otherwise had only a year or so ago. Despite the overtones of isolation or separation found within those words, we've taken it upon ourselves to find ways to connect that not only have made us get creative, but have helped us gain perspective on what matters most. This year's retrospective celebrates the determination, resilience and care that our students and staff have demonstrated during an unprecedented year for the college. It is our belief that by finding ways to work together, we can truly achieve remarkable things. With great appreciation I can say I believe it thanks to the work that we've done this year!" - Ry Hallada, Student Services  

1. Friday, 21 February - Welcome Party 2020

"It was another great Welcome Week, kicked off by meeting this group of bright personalities! Little did we know this would be the last fully in-person Orientation for a while. Although our team had already been planning for big changes to come, we did our best to safely enjoy the start to the new year and semester." 

2. Thursday, 5 March - Visiting Artists: Osamu Okamura - Art in the City

"The first Visiting Artist Lecture Series (VALS) of the semester focused the benefits of having art and installations in public spaces. Mr. Okamura shared some great visuals, talked about working with city officials, and somehow managed to foreshadow some of the world biggest challenges that were either already in the periphery or just just around the corner, literally." 

3. Saturday, 21 March - 101 Caricature Fun! - KingDavis Art Workshop

"As we began our switch to the Digital Campus and hybrid classrooms, we knew that finding ways to have fun and being engaging would be essential elements when using online tools for classroom experiences. Samuel KingDavis brought his Caricature Drawing workshop to us online, and smiles to our faces!" 

4. Friday, 10 April - Digital Campus - Legwork Live Stream Party

"Our Digital Campus broadcasted the first in a series of LIVE musical events that focused on bringing the dance straight to your living room. With club nights in the city suspended, we took the opportunity to get the school's best talent involved. These events went on to host DJs, guitarists, pianists, singers, dancers and various MCs."

5. Wednesday, 23 April - Friday, 29 May - Digital Career Fair 20/20 

"The Digital Career Fair 20/20 took on the theme, “A Clear Vision for the Future”, which aimed to focus our attention on the needs of the day - in life, in business, and in the world around us - especially when it came to the transition to remote work and distance learning. Prague College and our Industry Network partners teamed up to deliver this exclusive online professional development series to help lock our sights on redefining the way we adapt and develop as professionals. This event personally gave me the belief that our Digital Campus had even more potential than we had first imagined." 

6. Friday, 29 May - Thursday, 25 June - SoAD Final Shows

"Although the situation in Prague and around the Czech Republic had improved slightly, we were still cautious about our traditional approach to the highly anticipated Final Shows for the School of Art & Design. Some of the events went fully online, while others were presented in the usual gallery format with distancing and hygienic measures in place. A huge thank you goes out to all of the students and lecturers for meeting these challenges with optimism and creativity, while making the best out of a rather unexpected situation."

7. Monday, 15 June Summer School 2020

"As the spring semester came to a close, we had already started to focus on bringing our hybrid classrooms to the next level. With some new technology for the Digital Campus, we kicked off our summer school programme with a painting class that saw students working and learning together both in the classroom and online." 

8. Saturday, 19 September - Graduation Ceremony 2020

"The 2020 Graduation Ceremony brought new challenges while also helping us further expand our abilities in bringing live experiences online. In a reduced capacity hall and with a digital production team, we continued our graduation tradition while establishing new methods to connect all of our graduates in the future, no matter where they are in the world!"

9. Tuesday 22 & Wednesday 23 September - New Student Orientation

"After a well deserved summer holiday, the Student Services team got back to business as we welcomed a new group of students to both our physical and Digital campuses. With social distancing, digital technology, and a lot of team work, we successfully kicked off the semester with a series of interactive hybrid sessions for the first time in the history of the university!" 

10. Friday, 9 October - Friday, 18 December - The Friday Show: Foundation Art, Design & Media

"Each Friday the Foundation Art, Design & Media students chose their best works to exhibit online to the college and the general public. It was yet another way in which the school brought activities through the Digital Campus when there was a lack of access to public spaces and events. To view the exhibitions simply visit the Foundation Instagram page here."

11. Friday, 16 October - Digital Welcome Party - Fall 2020

"In place of our in-person Welcome Party, we invited another round of talented student musicians to help welcome the semester in style. In addition to the performances, the Student Council team hosted online game rooms, open chat sessions, and a whole lot more. We were so glad to bring an element of fun and a chance to meet our new friends through the Digital Campus!"

12. Wednesday, 11 November -  Media Innovation Technology Series: Mika Johnson

"Another exciting addition to the Digital Campus came with the announcement of the Media Innovation & Technology Series (MITS). Prague College has already successfully run guest lectures under the Visiting Artist Lecture Series (VALS) and the Master Speaker Series (MSS) for several years now. By adding yet another great series to the Prague College portfolio, we now have school-specific events to boost intra-disciplinary professionalism and peek the interest of our whole academic community."

13. Wednesday, 18 November - Master Speaker Series: Matteo Mariani

"The School of Business held the semester's first online Master Speaker Lecture featuring Matteo Mariani, Executive Director of the Italian-Czech Chamber of Commerce. The talk entitled: 'Is Smart Working Really Smart?' brought professional leaders from our Industry Network together to discuss research on smart working and organisational change within Czech SMEs, as a response to the global pandemic, as well as future implications for business."

14. Wednesday, 25 November -  Spotify Playlist Curator Series and the Music Society

"The Prague College music society "Unmute" met up one last time to end this year and the 3-week songwriting crash course with a special guest who shared tips and tricks on songwriting and music composing. In addition to sharing his knowledge in music making, Tenui shared 15 artists that inspire him. The Music Society also recommends that you to check out the Spotify playlist he created as a complement to the session as well as their ongoing guest playlist series. To hear them yourself, go over to Spotify by clicking right here."

15. Friday, 11 December - Prague College Christmas Party 2020

"To bring the holiday vibes, we once again brought together another group of our talent student musicians for a live session like no other! This time around we had a bake-along with one of our entrepreneurial graduates, live music, and a dance class to get us out of our seats! We're always happy to end the year with our annual party, and even though we did it online, it brought us the warmth and cheer we were very much looking for! 

Note: The moments that were selected for this article were chosen subjectively, based on Ry's personal experience. There are so many great things that happen throughout the year which are just as important to our community. Although 2020 had many moments that we may like to quickly put behind us, we aimed to highlight the ones that brought smiles and hope for a better 2021.