News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Tech hosts its annual Spring Showcase this weekend, welcoming the class of 2029 to explore all the university has to offer.
Interim Director of Admissions Ted McWilliams said the Showcase invited admitted students and their families to campus. McWilliams said the more information and experience one gains, the higher chances of success.
“The Spring Showcase is a great opportunity for them to come, kinda in their own comfort zone cause they’re either coming with friends or family or guests,” McWilliams said. “We don’t limit the number of guests if you wanna bring five or six fantastic, bring the whole family and such. So they get to come here, they’re in a comfortable environment but they do get connect with other peoples with similar areas of interest.”
McWilliams said awareness boosts students’ confidence and may even help them discover their true path. He said the event also provides students with an opportunity to reassess their decision, ensuring Tech is the right fit while also guiding them forward on their career journey.
“They may come here, and have an idea of what they want to be as an engineer or nurse or business or whatever they’re looking at, but then when they get here and talk to people and see, they could say you know what, this isn’t kinda really what I’m interested in,” McWilliams said. “So they have an opportunity to talk with different people here, staff and the rest.”
McWilliams said the Showcase has grown exponentially over the past four to five years. He explained the event now spans two days due to the large number of students attending, with attendance reaching between fifteen hundred and sixteen hundred students on campus.
“Historically, around seventy-five to eighty percent of students who attend Spring Showcase do end up enrolling in the Fall,” McWilliams said.
He said that daily activities, depending on the student’s major, will be organized by the college of their major. McWilliams said this structure is designed to help students develop meaningful connections and friendships.
“In those separate groups and such for each college and so you’re gonna be, before you’re even here in college, have a possibility of meeting people who are gonna be sharing your classes, sharing your major,” McWilliams said. “And maybe develop some great connections there, friendships and all the rest.”
