College recruiters disappointed at fair

By HILA YOSAFI
The Tattoo

A low turnout at the annual College and Career
Fair held at Bristol Eastern High School last
week disappointed recruiters and coordinators.

"We were expecting more students," said
Mercellus Miglioranzi, a recruiter from
Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York.

The fair, which featured about 150 booths in the
gymnasium and cafeteria, included mostly New
England and New York schools, the armed
services, and work programs, was open to anyone. 

"I would have liked to see more people but the
ones that came here got a lot of information
that they wouldn't have otherwise gotten," said
Larry Hochman, chairperson of Eastern's guidance
department and coordinator of the event.
  
Hochman estimates about 250 families took
advantage of the free fair.

Tom Clark, a senior at Eastern who is looking
for a good business school said, "I think it's
useful giving students an idea of what colleges
have to offer without us having to travel very
far."

Eastern junior Lisa Cote, who filled out a few
information cards while she took a break from
concert choir said the fair was informative and
"you get to see all these colleges you've never
heard of."

Susan Martin, mother of Eastern senior Brandon
Martin, said, "I expected more colleges to be
here."

Lewis Mills junior Kristen Watson said, "Maybe
they should have a broader spectrum from schools
around the country."
  
However, Hochman said, "this is the biggest
number of colleges we've ever had." 

The recruiter at the Southern Connecticut State
University booth, Paula Kennedy, didn't
understand why so few people stopped by her
booth. She said, "I would have thought that
being a state school not too far away it would
have been busier." 

Students who don't think college is for them
could also benefit from the fair.

Jeffrey Parks, a representative from Hartford's
AmeriCorps, a program where members get a living
allowance for tutoring Hartford students and
receive money to further their education or for
job training, said the turnout "wasn't as
significant as I'd hoped it would be."

Northeast eighth grader Matt Nadeau said, "My
only fear is the Army will try to suck me in."

Recruiter Michael Dezi at the Connecticut Army
National Guard booth said that through the
military you could attend college tuition free.

John DeFelippi, a parent of an Eastern senior,
said his biggest fear about college is paying
for it for the rest of his life.

Miglioranzi said he sees a lot more students at
the fairs he participates in at other high
schools.  He said that since it's only held once
a year here "it should be a warning sign to
seniors."

But Hochman said there is no need to hold the
fair more than once a year.

Aida Silva, a senior admissions officer at the
University of Connecticut, said students "should
start as early as they begin middle school" to
prepare for college by taking classes such as
algebra and a foreign language.

Hochman said students should also start looking
at colleges long before their senior year
deadlines.

"There's no such thing as too early," Hochman
said. There is, he said, a thing as too late.

Tattoo writer Chantelle Garzone contributed to
this story.