High school students explore their future in McDonough
Staff Writer
The McDonough Sports Complex hosted 180 colleges for the Community College Fair on Sep. 30.
“The director sent me here to recruit different high school students in this area,” said SUNY Potsdam admissions counselor Katherine Catimon. SUNY Potsdam, known for it’s music and education programs, is three and a half hours northwest of the capital region area and 30 minutes south of the Canadian border.
Another college that visited the college fair was UAlbany. “I was here to recruit students from the Capital Region,” said Marcia Hoyte, the undergraduate admissions counselor for UAlbany. UAlbany is known for their liberal arts, business, science and criminal justice degrees.
Utica was another college that joined the college fair. “I was here because I was assigned to recruit students in this territory,” Joanne R. Pluff stated. She is the assistant director of admissions. The college is known for its nursing, criminal justice, psychology, and biology courses. The college is located in Utica, about an hour and a half west of the capital region.
Some colleges were from outside of the capital region including the University of Maine and Newbury College.“I chose to be at the college fair because I live in Schenectady,” said Sarah DeThorne, an admissions counselor for Newbury College.
“My mom went to Hudson Valley Community College,” said DeThorne. The college is located outside of Boston. The college is known for their art design courses and their major focuses including business management and criminal justice.
The University of Maine was another out of state college that came to the fair. “I am trying to increase enrollment, get more out of state students, and recruit students from Washington D.C. and north,” said Ross Cummings, admissions counselor for the University of Maine. The college is known for their engineering, nursing, educatiom and business degrees. It is also known as one of the oldest honors colleges in the nation.
Many students attended the college fair. People from different high schools participated in the college fair. “I want to learn more and get a better job in the future,” said Alex Helmar, a senior at Cohoes High School. “I want to get a major in Psychology or Sociology because it sounds interesting. I really want to go to SUNY Adirondack because it seems like a nice school surrounded by trees.”
Dylan Wells, Catholic High School senior, also attended the college fair. “I plan on getting a major in business and I want to go to Yale because it is a prestigious college,” he said.
Many students from Hoosic Valley High School attended the college fair. “I plan on getting a major in criminal justice,” said Conor Patenaude, senior from Hoosic Valley. “I don’t know where I want to go for college. But, I want a good education and I want to make good money.”
“I plan on getting a major in criminal justice at UAlbany,” Nick Strock said, who is another senior from Hoosic Valley.
Hoosic Valley senior Jared Whitford attended the fair. “I plan on getting a degree in criminal justice and I don’t know what college I will go to,” he said.