It's a fact that most students changes majors several times. Maybe if they had more information earlier in their college career, they wouldn't have to go through so much turmoil.

In order to facilitate those important choices, the Career and Advising staff hosted Arizona Western College's first majors fair, "Majors 4 Matadors" in the Schoening Conference Center one November morning. About 36 representatives had exhibits that provided information about their programs, including various AWC support services as well as other colleges and universities.

The exposition was held to provide students with information about the various academic programs at the college and "to emphasize to students the importance of having an academic focus, a major," according to Career Services Coordinator Mel Parker.

"Research shows that students who have selected a major do better in college," said Parker.

AWC Students were invited to the event in order to get an idea of what each major has to offer, "especially those who are undecided about their choice of major and those contemplating a change in majors," said Parker.

"Students received information about the coursework involved in each major, including transferability of their degree to the state universities," said Parker.

Also, "the three state universities -- ASU, NAU-Yuma and the U of A -- attended," said Parker.

Parker said."It took us about 5 months to organize the Major Fair event; we started putting it together in June." The plan was to be once a year, not each semester.

"Majors 4 Matadors, was a great success," said Parker. "We had nearly 500 high school seniors from nine different schools, including San Luis, Antelope and Parker, along with hundreds of our own AWC college students participating in the event."

"Students were very appreciative," he added.

Some of the comments received by AWC Career and Advisement Services were, "The fair was very informational," "I liked that the staff could answer all my questions," "I learned a lot more about my major," and "It was awesome."

Those who would like more information about the Majors Fair and many other similar events can contact Parker at (928) 344-7603 or at mel.parker@azwestern.edu. They may also contact Jim Hutchinson, director of Career and Advisement Services, or Donna Lay, AWC experiential learning specialist.