With college application season on the rise, eager high school students flooded Rabobank Area for the 19th Annual Kern County College Night Friday, Aug. 6.

Over 100 colleges and universities brought representatives to promote their institutions and speak with prospective applicants. Local Kern County institutions, including Taft College, California State University, Bakersfield, and Bakersfield College were dominant on the event floor. Their booths included photo opportunities with their mascots and cheerleaders, plenty of free merchandise, and balloon banners that covered the event space.

“With BC being here the faculty is able to share their expert knowledge and background of different career fields and majors available,” said Ashlea Ward, Program Manager of Outreach and School Relations at BC. “We have advisors here from almost every department, so students are able to get more details of that specific area that they are interested in.”

A handful of informational presentations and workshops were available throughout the event to inform attendees on frequently asked questions and topics, including how to apply for financial aid, finding the right college for one’s major, how to prepare for the SAT and ACT, as well as tips on writing a personal statement.

Regional and national institutions were also present, including the well-known California Universities of Los Angeles (UCLA), Santa Barbara (UCSB), and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Other in-state and out-of-state universities had booths, including University of Hawai’i at Manoa and Arizona State University.

“Tonight is an opportunity to help students get more information on schools they are interested in applying for,” said Christopher Vivanco, junior at Centennial High School. “UCLA is my dream school, so the representative was able to answer a lot of questions I had. It also was good for my mom to hear everything he had to say since I feel like parents don’t know as much about the college application process as we do.”