On Thursday, September 19, a group of senior students went down to Murray State for the college fair held in the CFSB Center. There were around 20 to 30 different colleges and universities from and surrounding Kentucky. Some of the colleges were WKU, UK, WKCTC, Centre, Murray State, EKU, Georgetown, and many more. The whole purpose of a college fair is to show students the different places they can choose from and what all these places offer. It shows what certain resources colleges have and how the dynamic of the school affect the students.
College fairs help students decide if a certain college has their major, what the tuition is, and if there are any admissions requirements. Many times before students go to a college fair, they have a list of questions to ask and a list of colleges they want to talk to. Asking questions and knowing what colleges they want to visit is important because it will help prepare and let them know what to expect. Going to college fairs shows students their options. It can help students decide if college is for them, for some people go to college as soon as they graduate, while others take a gap year or go straight to the workforce.
Students need to discover if college is fit for them or not. Sometimes people need to experience something in order to decide if they want to continue what they are doing. College is important to think about after highschool, for it gets you set up for a career, however, it isn’t absolutely necessary. College is good, although, for development because it is a learning experience, and you gain the knowledge needed for a certain major or career field. When asked how college can give growth or development, Dr. Lisa Stephenson stated, “College gives students many opportunities to join student organizations to increase soft skills, employability skills, teamwork, communication, and collaboration. It will also show you what you don’t like.” Having a college experience can prepare you and help you learn new things. For instance, many students said they learned something new like: tuition is expensive, there are study abroad programs in many colleges, and some places have certain buildings and programs for different types of classes. To end, college fairs can help students make a decision about what they want to do after highschool and gives them an overall better explanation about what college would be like.