Morgan students traveled to Hartford for the annual National College Fair for 2024. At this fair, there were schools from states including Alabama, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida. The fair lasted from 9:00 am to 11:30 am. A total of 75 students attended the trip.
Students got on the bus to go to Hartford at 9:00 am. When the students arrived, they entered the Connecticut Convention Center. Then they dispersed from the group to search for schools of interest to them. All the colleges were lined up and organized well. Each school had its set-up, with a sign above their booth indicating the college and the location. Many other high schools were also attending, which made the convention a little crowded. Morgan students rejoined the group at 10:45 for a photo before returning to the bus and heading back to Morgan.
The junior class of 2025 had many opinions and thoughts about the trip. Many students said that they wished the trip was longer. They felt that the bus ride was longer than the actual time spent walking around in the fair. It also felt stressful because the administrators of the colleges could end up reading the students’ application essays.
Junior Ariana Farr said, “I was very excited in the morning, and then when we got back, I felt exhausted and wanted to go home.”
Junior Kierra Baker said that she “would definitely recommend the trip to future juniors” because she could learn more about the colleges.
“It made me want to add a couple more colleges to my list and gave me the chance to learn more about colleges in other states,” junior Kasey Allin said.
Guidance Counselor Joni Zdunczyk said, “The #1 feedback I got was that the fair was too short. So I started thinking of ways to make it longer. I consulted with my department. The problem being was that the buses had to drop off Joel kids in the morning, which made them later. That was why we left later and got to the fair at a later time. So if we had stayed an extra half hour, we would’ve had to eat third lunch.” Mrs. Zdunczyk also included that she also sent feedback to the fair because based on school schedules, it can be hard. She asked if “they would be able to extend the fair till 12:00 pm instead. Realistically, it would help with scheduling and also help provide students with lunch instead because of the food courts they had.” Mrs. Zdunczyk also had another possible solution. She said, “We could branch out to other bus companies to help work with our scheduling for the trip in the future.”
The college fair field trip is an annual event that Morgan students attend. Mrs. Zdunczyk agreed that more college fair events do go on in Connecticut, but it can be hard to reach out. “When I first started working here, I asked why there weren’t enough college fairs going on around the Shoreline. So I talked with the other Shoreline school counselors. We are working on a rotating event on a college fair for the Shoreline high schools.” Mrs. Zdunczyk mentioned that anyone who missed the tour had the opportunity to either go online to attend virtually or to go later at night. She said, “every time there is a local fair going on in the Shoreline, we post it on the Weekly Blast. We still try to get the word out, but sometimes students don’t get the information right away, so it can be a barrier when trying to get events out there.” The School Counseling office continues to work to inform students about these opportunities.
