Colleges offer information for students, provide opportunities

From the west coast to the Central Valley, 22 colleges participate in the Fresno Christian College Fair, Sept. 17. Students visit booths and representatives during lunch time, receiving further information about possible college opportunities.

Local college fairs at Hope Lutheran Church and the Fresno Convention Center are available to students in the area interested in the programs and majors of different schools. College representatives inform students about the benefits unique qualities of each school.

While the college fair excites underclassmen about schooling possibilities, upperclassmen are urged to make decisions about their futures. Seniors make note of important deadlines for transcripts, applications, and scholarship opportunities.

Hosts first college fair, looks forward to making connections
Evangelina Tello, FC Academic Advisor
Sept. 17, 2018

“Whether it’s a state school, private school, UC, or CSU, it’s really awesome to know that we have alumni attending the universities that come to our college fair,” Tello said. “This fair is really exciting for me because for a lot of the younger students this will be their first college fair experience. I make sure to bring the event to students who are not able to attend off-campus college fairs. I’m so glad that students are excited and looking forward to connecting with different schools.”

Encourages visiting schools for full experience
Xander Brechbiel, Multnomah University representative
Sept. 17, 2018

“I think it’s really cool at Multnomah that we really want to teach students how to integrate their faith into what they are studying. I love being a college rep because I love to travel and talk to students about what they want to do with their lives. We come to campuses like Fresno Christian because we want to give students an idea of what’s out there and what they might be interested in. I hope that by coming to these college fairs that students will get an idea of what’s majors and colleges are out there for them so that they can get connected.”

Shares experience with incoming students
Kaitlyn Hollis, Grand Canyon University representative
Sept. 17, 2018

“My favorite part of being a rep is being able to work with students within the high schools. I loved my high school experience and I love being able to help you guys out show you a college that’d you’d love. I graduated from GCU and I just love sharing my experience with students and making sure it’s a good fit for them as well. I think the biggest thing these college fairs do is expose students to all the universities at their disposal and ensuring that a school is the right fit. Every school is different in what they offer and you want to make sure that you pick a school you’ll get the best four years out of.”

Informs students about combining faith and career
Ryan Forbes, George Fox University representative
Sept. 17, 2018

“The thing that stands out about George Fox is our sense of community on campus. We just have a really vibrant and engaged student body and so it’s a fun place to be but it’s also a great Christian environment. You are able to have really interesting conversations in the classroom about faith with fellow believers. You can explore what it looks like to integrate your faith and your career which is really cool. The school is big enough so that it is exciting but small enough so that you have good class sizes and friend groups. We are in the middle of Oregon’s wine country so it’s really beautiful and the school is about 108 acres with different academic buildings, dormitories, activities centers, and classrooms.”

Empowers students to become difference makers
Luke Irving, Azusa Pacific University representative
Sept. 17, 2018

“APU is one of the only Christian schools that does not require a statement of faith. We do that so that we can extend our admission process out to any student. I graduated from APU last year and I am now repping for the school. The best part for me is getting to find students and help empower them to become difference makers which is what our motto. Also just meeting students and getting to walk them through the process of admission and eventually coming to APU to one day is just awesome for me. We’ve had a lot of students from Fresno Christian attend APU and it’s an incredible high school and I was excited to have the opportunity to speak to the students and get them interested in our school.”

Enjoys traveling to share about college
Billy Parish, California Christian College representative
Sept. 17, 2018

“My favorite part in being a college rep is going out and traveling to the various venues to meet lots of people and share about the college. I’ve traveled Coalinga South, Dos Palos West, and Chowchilla North. I love coming to Fresno Christian and the reason is California Christian College being a local college, it is fun to meet local people in the same sphere of influence to track into our facility.”

Shares different aspects of CBU
Joshua Prosser, California Baptist University representative
Sept. 17, 2018

“We are a Christian University located in Southern California we have a 17 to one student to faculty ratio. We offer 80 different majors on our campus and we have a wide variety of interests. So are top five majors are nursing, engineering, business, psychology, and kinesiology but we also have a lot of upcoming majors like aviation and we also have majors like interior design which we just launched. We are actually a NCAA division 1 athletics and we have a great community on campus where you can get plugged in with the professors and each professor knows you by name. We have a lot of school pride and an overall great program.”

Looks for dedicated students
Leann Quashnick, Institute of Technology, Clovis representative
Sept. 17, 2018

“Our school is a career and vocational school so we are training students to get into a trade instead of getting a degree, although some of our program grant a degree most of our programs only go through a associate degree or less. We are not like a traditional college we are a career granting college. we look for students who are dedicated, who are looking to do accelerated learning and, who know they are ready for a rigorous program and will be spending lots of time in class.”

Commends UC campus and services
UC Merced representative
Sept. 17, 2018

“We have many research opportunities in the UC system. You are with world renowned faculties with a student to professor ratio of 21-1 so that gives you the opportunity to interact with the faculty, conduct research and if your are looking for professional degrees, it leads to letters of recommendations. The benefit is that it is the youngest campus as a student driven campus. You are able to leave your legacy behind in the UC, students are pioneers who pride themselves in having established the newest UC campus. Our students, they come from all over the state of California. Everyone is excited to be at the youngest UC, the newest UC and the fastest growing UC.”

Offers academic and spiritual growth
Point Loma Nazarene University representative
Sept. 17, 2018

“We have a 14/1 student to faculty ratio. Our average classroom sizes are 20 students per classroom so you definitely get connected to your professors, to your other peers and we dedicate and invest in all of our students. So one we offer incredible academics, we help students grow spiritually, and we want them to grow emotionally as well and we have tons of activities and clubs that students can join and be apart of. Our desires is ultimately get them prepared to pursue their career of choice, and that they are ready and prepared to impact the world whether it be here in their community. We have over 50 different clubs that are available to students. We are NCAA Division II school so we have sports there. And we have a lot of nearby communities that offer great food, great attractions, tons of activities for students to do and at no cost sometimes at all.”

The video below features interviews from the 2018 FC College Fair, Sept. 17.

2018 FC College Fair from The Feather Online on Vimeo.

To find out more about college applications and deadlines, talk to Evangelina Tello in the downstairs office. For more articles, read Ashley Zamarripa leads girls tennis with passion and Bird Scooters take over the United States, and now Fresno.

Addison Schultz can be reached via email and via Twitter @SchultzAddison.