Senior Jeremy Scarpetta walked into a busy cafeteria with his future in mind.

Like roughly 400 other students, Scarpetta attended the Oct. 11 college fair, seeking information to help him weigh his options for his life after high school.

“I went in with the mindset of, ‘I need to get information from these colleges,’” Scarpetta said. “I didn’t just want simple information I could find on a website but to hear personal anecdotes or personal experiences from these admissions officers in those colleges. This helps me see how I would react being in that same environment.”

This wasn’t always his mindset. Last year, in his junior year, he went about the fair with a broader approach.

“In my junior year, I was there just to see what colleges really interested me,” Scarpetta said. “I went mainly by name, but I went to go and talk to as many as I could, to see if they suited me more than other colleges that I already knew of.”

Learning general information about different colleges enables him to focus more on the unique details of what each college offers and what he wants to invest his time in while there.

“It’s going to cut down the time in which I’m undecided,” Scarpetta said. “I feel like the college fair is a really good place to ask those very specific questions and get the answers that I need.”

Junior Caitlin Ray was “proactive” in her college search by attending the college fair prior to her senior year. She sees this proactivity as something that will help her find the specific school for her, further benefiting her future.

“Most of the colleges I talked to [during the college fair] were out-of-state, therefore my exposure to them was very limited to emails and, of course, the fair itself,” Ray said. “Many of them had great programs for a wide range of studies, many of which I was not aware were so renowned at these schools. Having this information before application season allowed me to apply to schools I might have overlooked.”

University of Massachusetts Amherst representative Brianna Martinez sees the purpose of the college fair in a similar way.

“The benefit [of the college fair] is just getting to know what your options are and seeing the different universities and all that they have to offer,” Martinez said. “Especially if you feel like you don’t know too much about college, you get to come here and learn a lot about the different opportunities each one offers.”

Tulane University representative Julie Brasseaux sees both a negative and a positive to this more personal conversation with the college representatives themselves.

“College fair allows students to talk to multiple universities at once [by asking] some quick questions rather than hearing a full presentation,” Brasseaux said. “It’s good in the way that you’re getting to talk to a lot of schools. You don’t get to talk to the representative for very long, but it is overall beneficial.”

Brasseaux holds a special tie to Bellaire’s college fair beyond the university that she is representing. Both of Brasseaux’s parents attended and graduated from Bellaire. This connection to the community isn’t what ultimately draws her to attending the fair. Rather, it is the purpose it serves, her enjoyment of talking to “numerous” students in attendance.

In the midst of so much talk of the future, Ray finds reassurance, not worry, in her future plans.

“The fair definitely calmed my fears [on the application process], especially because I know people who have already gone through it,” Ray said. “Having that reassurance that I’ll make it through definitely helps a lot.”

Scarpetta also found reassurance in his future plans by attending the fair. Instead of feeling his previous sense of worry, he felt excitement.

“The experience made me pretty excited for college, instead of nervous,” Scarpetta said. “When I talked to the admissions officers, I was able to see a face of who may be reading my essay. I got to see what their character, opinions, views and values are like. For me, knowing who is going to read my writing, or who may review my application, knowing who they are and what they think, really made me comfortable sending my application towards whatever college I was talking to.”

Martinez also holds excitement in being able to guide students to a new path in their future.

“It’s always exciting to see students get excited about their future and education,” Martinez said. “They’re learning all of the new opportunities that are ahead of them, and it’s fun to be part of that excitement.”