Potential students pack Loyalist College for open house

BELLEVILLE – Students from area high schools and members of the public packed the gym at Loyalist College Wednesday for the college’s first open house of the year. Photo by Ashley Clark

By Ashley Clark

BELLEVILLE – Over 20 busloads of high-school students rolled up to Loyalist College on Wednesday for the first open house of the year.

The event ran from 9 a.m. to noon. Guests were able to check out all of Loyalist’s programs in the gym, where booths were set up. Staff and students from the programs were there to answer questions.

Janet Leavey stood at the Business Administration booth. She is the first-year co-ordinator of the program and says that open houses are very important to attend:

Unfortunately, Leavey’s booth wasn’t getting as much attention as some of the others were, and she had some creative ideas why:

BELLEVILLE – Culinary students at Loyalist College handed out cookies at the open house. Photo by Ashley Clark

There were also over 20 Ontario Colleges representatives at the open house as a part of a provincial tour.

One of the Grade 12 students at the event, Brooke McKissock, says she plans on taking early childhood education after graduating from St. Paul’s High School in Trenton.

“I love working with children,” McKissock said.

She has experience babysitting and is currently doing a co-op placement. McKissock has also done a Child and Youth Worker dual (high-school/college) credit at Loyalist and is planning to come back as a full-time student next year.

“It’s close to home and they have a really good early childhood education program,” she said.

Other high school students aren’t as certain about where they want to go after graduating.

Cassie Truman, a Grade 12 student at Quinte Secondary School in Belleville, said she is looking at Algonquin, Cambrian and Loyalist colleges.

She wants to take nursing and says it’s something she’s always been passionate about: “I want to major in pediatrics … just being able to help kids and stuff.”

She likes the look of the program at Loyalist, she said:

But she can’t decide whether to stay in the Quinte area.

“Some days I want to stay home and some days I want to get away,” Truman said.

And then there are some who have absolutely no idea what they want to do after high school.

Chris McRae, a Grade 12 student from Quinte Secondary, is one of these students. He said he isn’t sure what program he would be interested in, or if he even wants to go into post-secondary education.

In an attempt to help with such hesitations, Ontario Colleges had a futuristic photo booth set up, in hopes of helping students think about visualizing their future.

Participants were able to pick out props and then select a background that reflected a certain trade, such as construction, nursing or photography.

Zak Whitford, a worker at the photo booth, explained its purpose:

There was also a draw for $2,000 toward tuition fees at Loyalist. The winner will be announced by the end of this week.

For those who missed the event, Loyalist offers personal tours and the student-for-a-day program, or you can book an appointment with a college adviser. For more information visit loyalistcollege.com.