This year is the start of the future for seniors, as they are stepping up and getting introduced to the real world after high school. September 19th gave seniors a sneak peek during the College and Career Fair here held at Sahuaro. Many different junior colleges, universities, and jobs were in attendance at this event: Cochise College, Eastern Arizona College, Hastings College, Pima Medical Institute, Colorado State University, University of Nevada, New Mexico State University, Grand Canyon University, The Catholic University, the Army, CRAS Audio Recording School, and the Professional Truck Driver Program. All these programs were there with information about what they offer and why it would be a great fit for you to go. All seniors were invited to this event to get a head start on choosing their future path. It was a huge success because many students signed up and signed the applications to get admitted into college or they got information for future work.

There were big-name universities in attendance like Colorado State University, University of Nevada, New Mexico State University, The Catholic University, University of Arizona, and Grand Canyon University, which all require a good GPA or ACT/SAT scores. The junior colleges like Cochise College, Eastern Arizona College, and Hastings College would accept any student no matter their GPA or test scores. The alternatives instead of college would be going to work at Pima Medical Institute, The Army, CRAS Audio Recording School, and the Professional Truck Driver Program. These are all viable options after high school if someone does not want to continue their education.

Senior Juliana Lukanuski spoke about her plans after college, saying, “I’m looking at going to the U of A for the Nursing program, but if that doesn’t work then I will go to a junior college.” The Pima Medical Institute’s stand was filled with students because many teens are interested in the medical field.

Senior Grace Trostle said, “I want to try and go to Grand Canyon University (GCU), and if not there then the Army.” If school doesn’t work out for a lot of students the army is a great fit, especially since it doesn’t charge for housing and food, and the benefits are huge. This was a great opportunity for many students to dip their feet into finding their future.