Parents and students gather around a booth at the Huntington Beach Union High School District Annual College and Career Night hosted by Fountain Valley High School. Photo by Laura Le.by Maria Gerges, Staff Writer
On Wednesday Oct. 5, the annual District College Fair took place from 7-9 p.m. at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS). The College Fair is an event that takes place yearly in one of the six high schools in the district. The event was for all grade levels which is different from the college fairs the school plans for the upper classes in November.
This was a huge event especially for Fountain Valley High School since it only takes place every five to six years on campus. Around 96 in-and-out of state colleges as well as Regional Occupational Program (ROP) representatives from Coastline Community College and Orange Coast Community College (OCC) were there.
The colleges included many University of California schools, and private colleges. The night also included some break out sessions for special education, college knowledge in Vietnamese and Spanish, and financial aid presented by University of California Irvine (UCI).
At 6 p.m. food trucks arrived on campus with delicious hot dog and hamburger sandwiches. The music also arrived at the same time. Students and parents from the Huntington Beach Union High School district lined up to get a quick snack before looking at the available colleges.
Fountain Valley High School students from Associated Student Body (ASB), National Honor Society (NHS), and California Scholarship Federation (CSF) helped guide the college representatives to their specific spot at the gym. The volunteers welcomed the representatives and helped them into the school.
From 7-9 p.m. the students had the chance to attend any of the break out sessions, a meeting for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Eligibility which is classified for Student Athlete Information, and an SAT vs. ACT presentation. All of these meetings were really helpful for students especially juniors and seniors since they are the ones looking into college admissions and requirements. Many students and parents took advantage of these opportunities to get any last minute information.
The students also got to have one on one conversations with the colleges that they are interested in. They got to ask any questions they haven’t found answers for online. They got to introduce themselves and get an inside look on the life according to that college. There were also stations for ROP classes, from OCC and Coastline Community College, that students can take to get hands on experience for the major they are interested to study in college. There were stations from Orange Coast Memorial Hospital and Paul Mitchell the School. This is where students got to know about chances they can volunteer or get a job.
Overall, students from all over the district got a very informative night and were able to understand more about what they need to do in order to increase their chances for getting into the college of their dreams. In case students want more information about anything related to college, they can go to the college center and talk with Mrs. Wakeman. They can also sign up for the college presentations.
It’s important for all seniors to mark their calendars for the college presentations as well as other events. Some of these include the California State University Long Beach parent night on Oct. 17 from 7-9 p.m. at the library, the financial aid night hosted by UCI at the library on October 24th at 6:30 p.m. There are more events that students in their 11th and 12th grades can find out about through the career center website.
