Event Two: Open House at RIC

The second event I attended this semester was the 2013 open house at Rhode Island College. This is where potential students and their families tour the campus’s facilities and inquire about different majors. I, as well as my other classmates, was asked to attend the event and share information about the Youth Development major. This (I believe) was the first time that the Youth Development major was able to join in on an open house, making it very exciting. Because we are a new major to RIC, this was a great opportunity for us to explain what YDEV is and why it is so important.

Unfortunately, by the time I and a few others got to the open house, the bulk of the students and families had already left. There were still a few people lingering, however, they seemed to be interested in other academic areas. This made it difficult to highlight our program to others. For next year, I think that each youth development student should arrive at the beginning of the open house. This way, they will be able to reach out to more people and share their individual experiences in relation to YDEV. Additionally, we should do more in terms of advertising and marketing in order to really spread the word that Youth Development is here and it is here to stay! Though our program is new to RIC, I believe that it can thrive with the proper supports and advertising. This is just the beginning for us, and I know that we will be moving on to bigger and better things!