King's College Fair draws robust crowd
Apr. 24—WILKES-BARRE — There were literally just minutes before it ended but a few tables continued to draw crowds as a higher education fair hosted by King's College on Monday rapidly wound down.
"This is my favorite fair," Florida Tech Admission Counselor Debbie Bates said as the last group of students stepped away from the table, other college and university representatives already starting to fold banners and pack up hand out materials. "It always has a lot of students, and it flows very well. The organizers make it very easy for students to talk to anyone they want."
For Hazleton Area students Manuel Jimenez and Xsavier Torres, "anyone" apparently had turned out to be "everyone."
"We stopped at all of them," Manuel insisted, his buddy eager to confirm.
That would be everyone as in representatives from more than 100 colleges and universities across the country who were expected to attend the Pennsylvania Association for College Admission Counseling Northeast Regional College Fair. The free event opened the doors in the McGrane Gym of the Scandlon Physical Education Center at 8:30 a.m., and a substantial number of an estimated 1,500-plus students from 18 regional high schools were still milling about in the waning minutes as the 11:30 closing time neared.
As for Manuel and Xsavier, they both said they liked their last stop, Florida Tech, but were seriously considering one of the military branches also present, as well as Elizabethtown College (Etown, for short).
As host, King's praised all involved in helping get so much info to high school, college transfer and non-traditional college students looking to continue their education. "Without the work of our local school districts, school counselors and teacher chaperones, a great event like this would not be possible," Undergraduate Admissions Director Michella Landon had said in a media release announcing the event.
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish
