Audrey Cronin, an AmeriCorps volunteer at College Possible Chicago, reflects on the first college fair of the year.
In September, 107 College Possible Chicago students from all six of our partner high schools kicked off the school year at the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) College Fair at Navy Pier.
NACAC brings admissions representatives from more than 300 colleges and universities to one place, giving students the chance to explore schools from across the country and around the world. The room was buzzing as students picked up college swag, asked questions and discovered schools they had never heard of before.
For juniors, it may have been their first time talking with a college admissions representative. For seniors, it was a chance to discover new schools as they build their college lists and begin applications.
And some students left with a very different vision of what their college future could look like.
One student told me that the fair helped her add more than five colleges from around the world to her college list. She discovered that several offered scholarships and financial aid she had never heard about, along with study abroad programs. By the end of the day, she was already imagining herself spending a semester abroad in college.
As a former College Possible coach myself, I know how much happens during those first few weeks of school. Coaches are meeting students for the first time and beginning to build relationships with them. Seeing more than 100 students sign up and come to NACAC after just two weeks was pretty incredible. It’s also why I came back this year to plan events like this on College Possible Chicago’s Community Partnerships team. These opportunities help students start to see themselves as someone who belongs on a college campus. They get excited about their future and begin dreaming about what it could look like.
