The Lifelong Learning Center hosted the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Fall Education Fair, featuring more than 50 education institutions, aboard MCAS Miramar, Calif. Oct. 18.
Representatives from various education centers, including technical schools, colleges and universities, attended the four-hour event designed to inform service members of education enrichment opportunities.
“We set up two of these fairs a year to educate Marines and sailors on all the different education opportunities available to them that they may not know about,” said Trinity Herrera, an education administrative clerk with the Lifelong Learning Center. “Sometimes service members don’t know where to look to get information on schooling, and this gives them a central location to answer their questions.”
Many of the schools were able to enroll new students on site in a matter of minutes. Rather than go through what can sometimes be a time consuming paperwork process, attendees were able to fill out as few as three forms, taking advantage of military discounted or free-of-charge enrollments, and become students of their preferred institutions in as little as 10 minutes.
“I came to the education fair to get back into school,” said Sgt. Sean N. Bradford, an administrative specialist with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11 and a Houston native. “I wanted to further my education and this seemed like a good place to go to start. I have had a few courses here and there, but I wanted to enroll at Central Texas College and could get it done really quickly.”
More than 200 Marines and sailors visited the education fair. Those in attendance received free lunch provided by Marine Corps Community Services and gifts such as t-shirts, hats and key chains from various schools they may wish to attend.
“We usually have more in attendance during the fall education fair,” said Herrera. “We host one in the spring as well, but most people are going through [permanent change of station] or are focused on summer, so the fall gets a larger turnout. We can get as many as 400 service members show up per fair.”
The MCAS Miramar Fall Education Fair served as a centrally located way to inform the Marines and sailors of Miramar of the multiple opportunities available to them for furthering their education.