Making the decision to continue your education beyond high school can be complex in its own, but determining where to go to college can be just as overwhelming. Luckily for the students of Seward High School, they are given the opportunity to visit a college fair in Soldotna and explore the different school represented at the event. The trip also included a tour of the Kenai Peninsula College (KPC) campus.

Fifty plus colleges came to the event — many from in state and others from the west coast, including but not limited to: Washington, Idaho, Colorado, and Oregon. One booth claimed that they “don’t normally travel to college fairs in Alaska,” but after they received over 20 applicants from Alaska — accepting 25% of those — they decided to make the long travel to promote their school. The booths varied from smaller liberal arts colleges to large universities, and even included Seward’s local technical school, AVTEC.

This year, about twenty students from Seward travelled to Soldotna with guidance counselor, Martha Fleming. Martha enjoys bringing a group to college fairs because “it’s important for students to think about life after high school.” Seeing some of the thousands of universities in the world can really help students choose what they want in their secondary education. It also allows students to learn characteristics about those schools that may not be a fit for them. For example, many students I spoke to at the college fair stated that they are looking for colleges outside the state, but there were a few who would rather stay closer to home. There was some interest in attending large universities because they are very social, but a portion of the students prefer the style of small liberal arts colleges instead.

After spending an hour at the college fair, the students headed over to the KPC campus for a tour of one of the main facilities, including many of the college’s classrooms. Afterwards, they got to see the dorm rooms. Some people see the lodging on campus is much nicer than that of other colleges and universities because each student gets his/her own room within the shared dorm. While most of the information gathered during the tour was directly related to KPC, it can also be applied to other colleges and can help students when applying for schools.

Martha strongly encourages college bound students to visit these fairs each year to get a better understanding of what they are looking for in a secondary-education. Even if students visit the fair and don’t like any of the schools provided, they still have an understanding of what they don’t want in a school. Seward High school students need to plan on attending next year’s trip — the experience is worth it!