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A million possibilities. This is something that Ana Dunham probably never thought she would find. But she did. Literally. She sat in front of a lighted Solid State Logic (SSL) mixing board with dozens of knobs, buttons, switches and toggles that represented all the possible levels and directions that could be around the corner with a turn of a knob.

She had just finished a tour of Ex’pression College for Digital Arts when the tour guide for her group invited her to a mixing session in one of the school’s state- of-the-art studios. She knew at this point that she had found a home.

“When I walked into the studio and stood in front of the SSL mixing board, I had a million flashbacks of the people I’d met there in the last few hours and how many thumps I’d felt in my heart,” Dunham said. “I couldn’t stop smiling. It was a million possibilities laid out in front of me.”

Many students who visit Ex’pression College for Digital Arts probably feel the same way. After all, this is like no other college tour in the country. From multimillion dollar digital editing suites and broadcast stations to a recording studio named after Jimi Hendrix and a recording hall outfitted with a green screen and 3-D capture capability, this is not your average campus tour. This is not your average college.

Ex’pression is located in Emeryville, Calif., in a 102,000-square-foot building just blocks from the shores of San Francisco Bay. More industrial park than palm trees and boardwalk, the small town has become famous for producing some of tomorrow’s brightest sound and graphics artists in the entertainment business. Just two miles down the road is Pixar Studios, makers of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and, most recently, Ratatouille. The caliber is so high for Ex’pression graduates that many now work at places like Pixar or as engineers at major recording studios. A recent alumnus just won an Oscar for the Dreamgirls soundtrack.

Dunham is now deeply committed to the Sound Arts program at Ex’pression, but after graduating from high school in 2004, she wasn’t so sure about her future. She spent a few years working at jobs she knew she wasn’t passionate about and didn’t always feel like she fit in. She needed a place to call home, a place where she could explore new opportunities and really become engaged in something she loved.

“When you find that place, it grabs you by the heart and you know this is the one,” Dunham said.

That’s when she found Ex’pression. Sure, it has the elements of a regular college campus: a cafeteria, classrooms and computer labs. But, the cafeteria contains sofas to nap on, and the classrooms have ergonomic and adjustable work stations and are wired for the advanced audio and visual teaching supplements. The computer lab is an Apple G5 utopia featuring cinema widescreen monitors, networked computers and printers, and industry-leading design and editing software.

The overall attributes of the school are just as unique: classic bare-knuckle teaching juxtaposed with high-tech classrooms and outfitted with world-class electronics and classrooms painted with bright, lustrous paint schemes.

Noticing a pattern? Ex’pression is different. The school’s strengths lie in the student-centered approach, tremendous technological facilities and industry networking. Dunham equates the school’s teaching philosophies to real life. “They want to make sure that you succeed, but if you don’t want it bad enough, they’re not going to make you,” Dunham said.

Dunham wants it bad enough. She just started the program, but she extols the school’s encouragement of learning independence and creative freedom. The ability to walk into a classroom and consume as much as she wants to. The opportunity to plant herself in a studio and brood over every detail until the most prodigious creation she can think of is perfectly complete.

Before she can move on to her dream project, she must complete a few inevitable general education classes. But she doesn’t mind. She says even these classes intrigue, challenge and set a tangible, concrete base for the rest of her education. She uses the example of understanding the writing and story lines of her American Literature class so she can write better scripts and produce a better movie for her Media Sound and Visual class. Dunham says the seasoned teachers are the foundation of it all, partly because they bring industry expertise to the classroom. Ex’pression’s program director for the Sound Arts program, John Scanlon, has worked on projects for Ben Harper, Tori Amos, Dave Grohl, Jack Johnson and others.

“They’re definitely not typical. They’re impressive,” Dunham said. “The teachers have a different style. Not only do they give you the concepts, they employ them.”

This is what Dunham is hoping to very soon be able to accomplish. She hopes to one day sit down at that SSL mixing board and employ everything she’s learned at Ex’pression to record and produce something with a tangible impact. Something more than a hit pop song or movie soundtrack. Something worthwhile that will begin to fulfill at least a few of those million possibilities.