SPENCER — When you’re in high school, you’ve got the whole world ahead of you, but figuring out where to take your next development steps is important.

North Rowan High School hosted a college fair last week for its students to get a glimpse of various colleges from the area as well as some out-of-state offerings. 

One of those schools was Greensboro College. Representing Greensboro College was senior admissions counselor Casey Daniel.

“Typically, we try to let (the students) know the general overview of everything,” Daniel said. “Primarily for us, we are a small private college but we are in a pretty big city. We are right next to downtown so you really have the best of both worlds.”

While some students care about locations, other factors are considered. 

“One is affordability,” Daniel said. “You have to make sure everyone knows the cost of stuff. We are far and away one of the most affordable, if not the most affordable, private college in the state.

“Across the board, making sure (the students) know what kind of opportunities they get from going here, like internships and getting experiential learning, which is required of all students. Those are the big things we want them to know.”

Of course, students care about the teams they are going to be rooting for. 

“Students like to know what teams there are and what sports there are,” Daniel said.

Sometimes, Greensboro College might not be the best fit for aspiring students. 

“One of the things about these fairs is while want to make sure people are interested in wanting to come to Greensboro College, we want to make sure all the students are going to where they need to be,” Daniel said. “If it’s us, that’s awesome. If it’s not us, that’s alright, too.”

For a couple of students, the fair was a great way to expand their knowledge of school possibilities while honing in on what they want their futures to look like. 

Stephen Hughes said that his interests combine athletics and academics. 

“I have been asking about the athletic teams and the GPA requirements and what you would need on the Pre-ACT,” Hughes said. “Going to a school with great sports is not on the top of my list. I put my education before sports, but it is definitely a factor for me.”

Hughes said that his top two considerations currently are at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and Appalachian State University.

“My family is from the mountains so I love it,” Hughes said.

Hughes is interested in doing something for physical therapy or athletic science.

Brayden Mahaley was another student at the fair. His focus is on Liberty University or Lenoir-Rhyne University. Mahaley indicated that each schools’ baseball teams appeal to him, but its not his only consideration. 

“Liberty has a really good baseball team and their physical science and physical therapy programs are really good,” Mahaley said. “With Lenoir-Rhyne, I know a lot of people who went there that loved the college and loved the campus, pretty much everything about it.”

Mahaley is a baseball player and doesn’t want to hang up his cleats after high school.

“I would love to play baseball at a high level,” Mahaley said.  

Ultimately, Mahaley acknowledged that his academic pursuits are just as important.

“I want to major in physical science or physical therapy, something along those lines,” Mahaley said. “So I’m going to get my GPA up and focus on sports, go to camps and get my name out there.”

Sherry Alexander, represented Virginia State, a historically black college and university (HBCU) at the fair. She was observing how the students were interacting with each other and representatives from booths.

“A lot of these kids are just 10th graders,” Alexander said. “They are not going to college any time soon.”

Even with the younger students, the goal was the same. 

“You have to plant a seed of thought about the school,” she said. 

Then, you just let the students’ dreams take root.