Students all over Dowling Catholic High School participate in the college fair to get to know what college sounds interesting to them. [A. Langin]

College. The scary seven-letter word that is on every senior’s mind as the school year comes to a close. The question is always asked to every single senior. Where are you going to college? Some seniors have no idea even in the last few months of school and some seniors aren’t given the chance to visit a college so what are they supposed to do? How are these seniors supposed to know what college fits them without college visits or any context of the college? Ever heard of a college fair at any high school? At Dowling Catholic High School, there was a college fair given to the student body during their lunch period. The students could go into the gymnasium and wander around to different tables to see what college they would like to get information from to see if they would want to go to that college.

Many colleges were at the college fair such as the University of Missouri, Iowa State University, University of Iowa, Kansas University, and Creighton University. They all had very cool things to say about the college fair.

Mia Battani had a table at the college fair. This was her very first college fair at Dowling Catholic High School and she talks about what her favorite part of this college fair is.

“I like how lively it is, I know it’s a requirement of students at Dowling Catholic, but I still feel like there is a lot of energy from students coming here and they are genuinely interested in our university and other places as well.”

Battani is only in charge of one part of Iowa when it comes to college fairs. She is from Ankeny and she says it’s like coming back home whenever she is in those places for fairs and other college activities.

Battani does believe that these fairs do help students because the information they are given and the process the students are told help them know what to do before college.

“Having that face time with professionals may be daunting at first but these college fairs make it feel less daunting. And they really get to ask the questions that they may be afraid to ask in another atmosphere.”

Creighton University is represented by Kristine Olson.

“The college fair has a lot of different schools represented and students can have a lot of different interests. They can explore these colleges and really find somewhere that they love. I love getting to talk to different sophomores and juniors and help them figure out where they want to be in the next few years.”

Olson has gone to many college fairs in the fall in different high schools in Iowa and she agrees that this helps students because the student get to know different programs and find out what school fits what they want to do and who they want to be.

Iowa State University is a school in Ames, Iowa. Kate Row is representing that campus.

“My favorite part is the opportunity to talk to students and help them find what they’re interested in. Whether that is Iowa State or not, I help them learn a little bit about our university.”

Row says, “This is my second time being at Dowling and I have been doing these fairs for about three years. I definitely enjoy all the college fairs I go to because I communicate with students and I love that.”

“College fairs help students learn about different schools all at once but also going on some campus visits and seeing those schools in person is a great way to do that and this is a great way to get exposed to different schools and start seeing the stuff you like and don’t like about colleges,” Row adds.

Aaron Cook at Mizzou says, “My favorite part about this college fair is the curiosity of the students and the questions they ask.”

This is Cook’s second time at DCHS and he covers the Kansas City metro area but he has been doing this for 18 years so he does around 50 college fairs every year.

“I believe this really helps students decide what college they might like if they ask the questions they want to and take the time to really get to know the college they are thinking of attending,” Cook adds.

Halie Schick represented Kansas University at the DCHS college fair.

“My favorite part of the college fair is that it is very open and students can browse and not get stuck in the lines.  I think it is set up very nicely.”

The college fair at DCHS was her third or the fourth fair in Iowa and she is based in Lawrence, KS and does a lot of college fairs around that area. Schick goes around northern Kansas, Iowa, and the New England states for college fairs.

“I believe college fairs help students because they don’t even know about some colleges that are here and they get to see those and get to know them. They can see the logos and colors that the colleges are giving and I believe it is a great opportunity for students to have,” Schick adds.

It seems like college fair workers are very confident that college fairs actually help students find out what school best fits them and what they are interested in. Hopefully, college fairs continue to help students decide what the next chapter in their life looks like.