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COLLEGE & CAREER FAIR OFFERS STUDENTS PLENTY OF OPTIONS

COLLEGE & CAREER FAIR OFFERS STUDENTS PLENTY OF OPTIONS

More than 75 colleges and businesses attended Millbrook High School’s College & Career fair April 28 to talk with students about their post-high school plans.

Representatives from colleges including SUNY Cortland, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Dutchess Community College attended along with businesses including IBM, Ruge’s Auto Group and Millbrook Equine. 

All high school students were welcome to attend, as well as eighth graders from Millbrook Middle School. MHS School Counselor Thomas Chanowsky finds the fair is especially beneficial for sophomores and juniors, who are starting to plan for life after high school.

“It’s a key opportunity for them to start thinking about it, because it’s their next step,” Chanowsky said. “But for ninth graders, it’s never too early to start thinking.”

Chanowsky invited the business owners and representatives from Dutchess BOCES’ Career & Technical Institute to give students alternative options if they choose to not attend college. 

“College isn’t the exact path for every single person,” Chanowsky said. “It’s nice to have other options here as well.”

Last year’s in-person fair received rave reviews from students as they found it helpful in their decision-making process. One piece of advice Chanowsky has for students who attend an event like this is to gather as much information as possible. 

“They might see something that they never thought was even an option and then it sticks with them,” the counselor said. “Then they know it might be a possibility for them to pursue that.”

Out of all the vendors at the fair, Sophomore Brady Jenkins was most interested in speaking with representatives from Arts Mid-Hudson in Poughkeepsie because he wants to pursue graphic design. He found the fair helpful in narrowing down options for the future.

“It helps us look at what we have available,” Jenkins said. “It’s really good for us at this age.”

Sophomore Liam Thompsett has interests in digital arts and computer science and said the fair gave him a good idea of what colleges he would want to apply to. He had this recommendation for students:

“Browse everything and take a bunch of pamphlets,” Thompsett said. “You’re never going to know what you’re going to be into until you read it.”