The Financial Aid Awareness Day attracted curious students to the Campus Center Plaza on Aug. 24 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to find out more information about the various types of financial aid offered.

Representatives from different universities set up booths at Contra Costa College so students could browse for financial aid resources.

Students began at the CCC resource table where they were provided with a yellow activity sheet that included the names of the representatives who were at the booths.

The goal of the activity sheet was to have students walk from one booth to the next to receive financial aid information from different schools.

Students were then given a sticker for their yellow activity sheet as an indicator that they had visited each booth.

Ebelio Mondragon, admission adviser for undergraduate admissions at UC Berkeley and spokesperson at one of the booths, said this event would accomplish a number of things for everyone participating.

“This event exposes students to options they would not consider,” he said after handing pamphlets out to several students. “The best part is being able to help students realize what their plans are after Contra Costa College will be.”

Many students found the information helpful and were happy to participate in various parts of the event.

Kajn Minahio, one of the students who participated in the activities said, “There are many programs to learn about today, and it is really nice finding out about new (financial aid programs) that I wasn’t aware of.”

As students gathered stickers for their yellow activity sheet, the atmosphere was lively.

Students were surrounded by bubbles as they moved from one booth to an other while modern dance music blasted from behind the CCC resources table.

When asked about how helpful he found the event, CCC student Tyler James said, “I think this really helps a lot of people get active on finding what kind of financial aid they can get for themselves. The yellow activity sheet is really helpful too, and it is good to get some food.”

Once students filled their activity sheets with stickers and completed filling out the back of their sheet with information, they were given raffle tickets and the chance to play games for more tickets.

Game participants were asked trivia questions about financial aid and then were given the opportunity to play for a raffle ticket.

These games included a bean bag toss, ring toss, and plinko.

Raffle prizes included gift cards, school gear and utensils for their classes.

Along with being handed raffle tickets for their completion of the yellow activity sheet, students were also handed a red ticket to get free food.

A hot dog, bag of chips, water bottle, can of soda and a cup of mini churros were given to students with red tickets.

As she placed an orange sticker on a student’s activity sheet, student Abigail Diaz said, “It is good to be informed on the different programs the school has to offer.

“Each one of these programs is designed to benefit student’s educational plan.”

Every student who attended left the event with more knowledge about the different kinds of financial aid available to them.

This allows students who were not fully aware of all the financial aid resources a chance to become familiar before transferring to the university of their choice.