In Olympic terms, area high school students went swimming Wednesday in an ocean of opportunities for the future.

Dawson-Bryant High School hosted its annual College Fair for more than 900 students from all seven of Lawrence County's high schools and Collins Career Center. Representative from more than 50 colleges, universities and branches of the armed forces were on hand to tell the youth that it is never too soon to think about the future.

"The biggest thing we want to accomplish here with our kids is to let them see there are a lot of universities and colleges that you don't hear about," said guidance counselor Bryan Mulkey. "Everyone wants to go to Ohio State or to UK but this way they get to see a lot of colleges that may have the same programs but could cost less or provide different options."

Mission accomplished.

"This was a good opportunity to see what the colleges are about," said Dawson-Bryant senior Patrick Roush who is looking at attending Marshall University or Shawnee State University. "We were able to find out a lot about the tuition and a lot of other good information."

Though he has already made his short list, Roush said it was a good chance for others to start thinking about the future.

"It gives the students the opportunity to see what is out there," he said. "It helps in the decision making to be college bound and helps with career choices."

Calling the event an "overwhelming success," fellow senior Jeremy Dillon agreed that it is important people realize there are lots of schools available.

"It is always good to have options open," he said. "We learned that there are plenty of options open to you within the immediate area."

While most of the students from other schools were juniors and seniors, Dawson-Bryant's underclassmen were also exposed to the opportunities.

"For the young kids, it gets them to set goals for college," Mulkey said. "It shows them the types of classes they might need, ACT scores and scholarships that are out there.

"Really it just shows them that there are more than one or two colleges out there."

Always looking to grow, Mulkey said this year's event was another success.

"The staff really did an outstanding job," Mulkey said. "I can't take the credit for it. They do most of the work."