School can be a tricky time for some. Many people spend their semesters hanging onto their grades by a thread while other push through as much as they can leading to a fair amount of mid semester exhaustion. However, sometimes the most difficult part of school is finding out what direction to take with your classes. Indecisiveness is no way to start a semester, and it can be very stressful on a person. Knowing this, the Deans of the schools programs hosted an open house at MATC’s Downtown Milwaukee campus. During the open house students would be able to gather all the information they would need to get started on their programs.

The open house began on Oct. 12 at noon and went until 2PM. During this time students could meet with advisors, professors and tutors from programs around the campus. They offered students information about their respective programs. Cody Hunnicutt, Sociology Instructor and Co-Coordinator for the Center for Engagement and Service Learning, said, “On a day like today we have the opportunity to speak with both students and parents, making them aware of not just how engaged MATC is with our students but also our employees. Our employees are heavily engaged in the community as well.”

In addition to information regarding programs on campus, there was information regarding transfers to four-year colleges. According to Maggie’ Aelurt, West Allis Transfer Day’s Advisor, “ Sometimes students aren’t informed about it (Information Regarding Transferring) so I’d like them to know their options as their coming in as new students, and that it’s a goal they can work towards, and we can help them do that.”

A key demographic for the event included not only current MATC students but also local high school seniors. Students were informed of the event through mailed information. Rich Busalacchi, Dean of the School of Business, Media and Creative arts, had this to say about the event, “ In tandem with the open house, we also worked with the Three Harbors Council Boy Scouts of America to run a merit badge clinic…what that allowed us to do was bring in 150 scouts who signed up for 1 of 20 of these clinics… the badges are directly related to programs that we offer such as music, animation, and cooking… this allows them to come in and explore MATC, as well as spend the day getting hands on skills they can use for a lifetime…they were able to spend about an hour before heading off to the clinics.”

The open house is held once a year, typically in November and is open to students hoping to enroll.