College Fair Helps Students Take the Next Step

Heading off to college is a major transition in a student’s life, but the student first has to choose which college to attend.

Selecting a college can be a daunting task, but Hermiston High School made that decision-making process a little easier Wednesday night with its College Fair. College representatives from around the Northwest were on hand to offer future college students the chance to learn a little more about their schools.

Hermiston High School senior Vanessa León made the rounds at the college fair visiting several booths including Blue Mountain Community College and the University of Idaho. She said, however, she is leaning toward the University of Oregon where she wants to study accounting. León said the event provided her with more than just a list of potential colleges.

“It’s very helpful to me because they have a program called CAMP (College Assistance Migrant Program) that helps first-year college students get used to the college and helps them with their schedules” she said. “And it provides them with medical help.”

Fellow HHS senior Diana Lomas said the college fair gave her some first-hand information that will help her make her final selection.

“We get that one-on-one talk with the counselors (about things like) what the student ratio is with the teachers and when to make a decision,” Lomas said. “Sometimes I’ll be like, ‘I like that school because of the environment,’ but sometimes after talking with them you’ll be like, ‘I’m not going there!’ ”

Among the booths Lomas visited Wednesday night were Corban University, Seattle University, Linfield College, and the University of Oregon. She said she’s leaning toward Seattle University at this point.

“That’s my home, it feels like,” she said.

Elizabeth Deck’s only complaint about the college fair was that there weren’t enough colleges represented.

“I only went to one booth because I was interested in colleges that weren’t there,” the Hermiston High senior said. Deck said she still hasn’t narrowed her college choices down to a select few.

“I’m considering many different colleges,” she said. “It’s so difficult to choose.” Not knowing what she wants to study isn’t making her choice of college any easier.

“I used to think I wanted to study psychology, but I’ve recently also wanted to bake and now I’m thinking of completely different things,” she said. “It’s hard not knowing.”

Not every student at the college fair is facing an impending deadline to make a decision. A number of underclassmen also attended the fair to get an early look at potential colleges. Sophomore Austin Grant said he was pleased to see a large number of colleges represented at the fair.

“It helps me widen my perspective,” said Grant, who is thinking of attending Washington State University to study computer engineering.

Junior Dylan Caldwell visited with representatives from Western Oregon University and Boise State University, but still doesn’t know where he wants to go when he graduates from Hermiston High School. The college fair, however, was still helpful, he said.

“You can get a lot of information you were unaware of,” he said.