As we are approaching the end of November, the end of the year also slowly draws near. As the future approaches, many people will be reflecting and thinking about the future. Many are asking themselves the question of what they are going to do, and where they want to be. These thoughts and questions are even more present in the minds of high schoolers. This is an important time for teenagers, especially seniors as they decide on their future after they graduate from high school. For those who want to go to college choosing a major and applying for a college is a big decision. Garden City Community College is fully aware of this and has taken it upon themselves to help out students who want to explore different colleges and be informed on what interests them.
That is why they hold the GCCC Exploration Day on Wednesday, the 13th of November. Exploration Day is an event that the Student Government Association puts on annually. For Exploration Day the college invites students from several high schools who are planning to or are pondering on joining GCCC after graduating. Here they can explore campus, and learn more about different majors and organizations, while also being able to win various prizes.
While signing up for Exploration Day, students also had to choose four programs from a list of programs that were offered here at the college. The list ranged from academic to technical programs. These four choices designated the sessions the students would go to where they would learn about said programs to further help dictate their choice of what they wanted to do at college. Each session was separated with two being forty minutes and the other two being twenty minutes, with each student being able to choose which session times they wanted to attend at sign-up.
The day started with buses arriving at the athletic complex parking lot at 8:30 a.m., as students checked into the building and headed into the gym. There, they waited until the event officially began by thanking the students for coming, followed by a speech from former alumni, Kaden Johnson. Around 9:40 a.m. the students were then led to their first forty-minute session. After each session, there would be a ten-minute break for students to find and get to where their next session would be. These sessions would continue, switching between forty and twenty-minute sessions. Each session attended would also have a QR code that could be scanned to sign in and for professors and advisors to contact those who were especially interested.
Once the fourth session was completed around 12:30 p.m. everyone would reunite back in the athletic complex for lunch. Here tables were set up by various of the different clubs and organizations that the college offered. Students were able to walk around and learn about the organizations as well as get some treats from some of the tables as well. After a couple of minutes, everyone was called back to sit down in their seats for prizes to be called. Students who had signed up by October 25th were all entered into a drawing to win a $1,000 scholarship to the community college. The college pulled out the names of six lucky students who each won the scholarship money.
After the event at around 1:30 p.m., students were loaded back onto their buses and taken back to their schools. Thus, concluding another eventful day for the community college. Exploration Day is meant to enlighten and hopefully help guide students toward their interests and their potential futures after high school.
