Wednesday, September 2 7, the Minneapolis Convention Center was overflowing with excited juniors and seniors eager to begin their college experiences. Over 300 colleges were represented from all over the country, including booths from Canada, Greece, and England. Students were able to visit with college representatives to finally  ask the questions they’ve been dying to ask and explore lesser-known colleges from other states. Applications and money are always the biggest troubles when it comes to college, so there were  financial aid, application essay writing, and standardized testings booths around to ease the parents’  minds.

Cannon Falls had 115 students attend the National College Fair. Among those students was Kadie Fales, a senior, who is looking forward to attending Minnesota State in Mankato. When asked why she wanted to attend the college fair, she said, “Well, I actually wanted to talk to one college, but I also really wanted to get some sushi.” Fales went to the fair planning on going into an English major, but by the time left, she changed to a communications major, where she will be focusing on non-profit organizations. Although she mostly went for the sushi, she is extremely grateful to have gone because the visit gave her much more confidence in her college choice and career.

Jeremy Soine, a junior, had already decided he wanted to pursue an agriculture career. Soine said, “Being able to go to this year’s college fair really helped me put what I would like to do with my future career into perspective.” Over the summer he went to a week long FFA college conference, which was where he realized how much he loves agriculture. “The camp is what helped me look at all the different factors in colleges that are extremely beneficial to look at before you start college. Both FFA and this college fair helped me with all things educational and helped me get one foot in the door.”

Some students, like Kadie and Jeremy, went to the fair for a specific college with certain questions, but others had no idea where to start. Another junior, Lola Munson, used this as her first step in looking for colleges. Lola is very undecided about where she wants to go, but when asked what options she is looking into she said, “Maybe NDSU or SMSU for vet stuff, pre-vet medicine.” Although she is still very los t, she feels better about the college process and is excited for her future. Much like Lola, I  don’t have any of the details for college figured out yet.

Going into the college fair I was mostly focused on going to Luther College, Penn State, or others I had previously heard of, but I ended up finding some colleges I never would have known about, had it not been for the fair. After talking to over 15 reps from all over the country, I started to finally narrow down possible majors. Going to the National College Fair was an extremely valuable experience, that was helpful for los t students, like Lola and me, students who have it all figured out, like Jeremy and Kadie, and everyone else in  between.