By Stephanie Clue and David Mallory
BELLEVILLE – Future students experienced a slice of Loyalist life during the College’s annual open house on Wednesday.
Trenton high school student Veronica Bradbury came to Loyalist to learn more about the journalism program.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do if I don’t do journalism,” she said.
Bradbury says she is interested in writing and wants to get more experience.
“I like writing and I’m good with words so it makes sense. Other than at school, I haven’t done much.”
Director of enrollment services Laura Naumann said the first open house of the academic year is to introduce the college to future students.
“It’s to showcase what we have here at Loyalist, to invite students from high school and the community to explore the different programs. It’s an opportunity for people interested in retraining to come in and talk to our staff and our students and explore what options are available,” she said.
It’s not only students that came to the open house. Naumann says people from the community have come in on their own.
“We’ve had a lot of school buses coming in from different high schools and we’ve also seen people coming by themselves. So far it’s been a great success and I’ve heard fabulous comments and great questions from the students coming in,” Naumann said.
Ontario Colleges was at the school with its Picture your Future photo booth with costumes to go along with it. The green screen allows students to pick between a variety of program backgrounds, like nursing, broadcasting and policing. Students get the pictures as a keepsake.
“We’ve got firefighter outfits, police outfits and if people want to get into personal training we got fake ab and muscle suits,” said Rudy Tijerino, a marketing agent for Ontario Colleges.
Student Matthew Weeks says he is interested in radio and journalism, and came to the open house to check them out.
“I just want to learn more about the world and how it works,” he said.
Weeks said he’s a frequent writer and wants to improve his skills.
For more information on the programs offered at the college, visit its website.