College Fair, From A Non Aspen High School Student

The annual Colorado Western Slope College Fair is hosted every year at the Aspen High School, and is run by AHS students, college counseling, and parents. The students aid the college reps all day. There are over 30 workshops and well over 250 colleges that attend. Students from all over the Western Slopes of Colorado travel just to attend this event. Students come from as far as the four corners to as close as our valley.

There were 3,500 total people who attended the college fair making it the largest college fair yet. 243 colleges were represented from all over the United States, and a few from other countries as well. There were 2,132 high school students who attended from 90 different schools from the Western Slope and even beyond.

Often, as AHS students, we forget just how special hosting this event for our school really is. We don’t realize just how far some schools travel just to attend this event that we get to be a part of every year. We often see it as an obligation, and don’t realize that some high school kids drove two days and spent the night at a hotel and paid money just to be able to go.

Other kids from other schools mostly hear about the college fair from their school counselors. It is usually attendance by free will but if they are in the Upward Bound Program, then it is considered mandatory for them to go. Students from other schools don’t get a lot of information about the college fair, other than what their counselors tell them.

Luis Galaviz, a senior at Coal Ridge High School stated his appreciation for the college fair “The most beneficial thing about the college fair was me asking specific questions that most colleges don’t answer online. As well as me being able to simply discuss with someone who knows the school and hear about it from somebody that has experience was a major benefit that I couldn’t find anywhere else. That makes it an incredibly unique experience” Galaviz said.

Another thing that people from other schools notice right away is the friendliness of the students and the staff that work the college fair.

“I really liked how there were so many people that helped you getting to where you wanted to go,” Galaviz said. “The second I got off the bus there were friendly people handing me maps and papers and telling me where to register. I remember one member of the staff noticed me and my friends struggling to see what workshop we should attend and he came and narrowed down two that he thought were the most important and that helped his son the most. The amazing work from the staff and students was that thing that I liked most.”

There were 100 fair day volunteers, 138 Aspen High School senior ambassadors, 139 junior ambassadors, 150 AHS freshman and sophomores and over 3,000 visiting students and parents. Students were not the only ones who benefited. DePauw admissions counselor, Ann Sarkisian also really enjoyed the fair.

“Thank you so much for your time and commitment to the students in the Western Slope,” Sarkisian said. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to represent DePauw at this amazing event.”

Regarding the workshops, there were 34 presented and attended by 3,827 people. All 10 a.m. workshops were attended by 1,485 people, 11:15 a.m. workshops attended by 1,461, and the 12:30 p.m. workshop was attended by 881 people.

The only issue that students seem to commonly have at the college fair is the lack of space.

“What I didn’t like so much is how crowded the college stands were,” Galaviz said. “I was often being shoved and it was difficult to talk to one of the college representatives because there was no order to the booths. It kind of took away from the whole experience in a negative way. I wish it was more spread out overall.” 

It’s always great to get a fresh perspective about something that we are so close to. Sometimes it is hard to realize how amazing and incredibly helpful the college fair is. Most other high schools don’t have college counseling, and round table, and discovery like we do. A lot of times we take for granted how amazing and unique our college counseling is. Most of the time kids from other high schools have to rely on the college fair and its workshops to give them the direction they need, and it is important to remember what an amazing opportunity it is for students around our school in addition to students from other schools.