(FORT BEND COUNTY) – Texas State Technical College in Fort Bend County held its annual open house Friday, opening its campus for program tours and meetings with faculty. The event, designed for prospective students who want to learn more about the college, hosted more than 200 visitors.

Coordinator of student recruitment Marigold Sagrado said she hoped the open house event would help give the college more visibility.

“I want to help spread the word about TSTC in the Houston and greater surrounding areas,” she said. “I also hope they took away that technical education is important and can offer a high-paying career.”

Visitors touring the campus’ 10 programs were able to participate in hands-on activities.

“In our Precision Machining program, our guests had the opportunity to create keychains on our CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) machines,” Sagrado said. “They got to see students climbing poles in Electrical Lineworker Technology. Robotics demoed the robots for visitors, and Electrical Power & Controls did a demonstration on electricity. It was a lot of fun.”

Sagrado said the college’s unique programs are what drew many of the visitors.

“Our attendees are looking for programs in these fields, but there aren’t a lot of schools offering them,” she said. “I think that piqued their interest to check out more.”

Other guests heard about the college by word of mouth.

“People are talking about their experience at TSTC and how the learning experience is different from any other college or university,” Sagrado said.

TSTC’s Student Recruitment office made some changes to open house this year hoping reach a broader audience.

“This year, our event lasted until 7 p.m.,” she said. “We wanted to try to reach some of the nontraditional students who may work during the day.”

Isaac Rush, an attendee who has now decided to enroll at TSTC in the fall, said he found the event beneficial.

“Not only were the teachers very helpful, but the student volunteers were just as helpful too,” he said. “The students were intertwined with their field of study, which helped me in selecting what I want to major in at TSTC. All in all, TSTC is a great environment.”

TSTC will begin registering students for the summer and fall semesters on Monday, April 2. For more information on the college, visit tstc.edu.