Explore BSC Creates Connections on Campus for Attendees

BSC Student Mygel Porter interviews Explore BSC Attendee Eli Halstad at the event on May 29, 2026

Bismarck State College kicked off summer with an event to connect teens to campus.

Explore BSC gave prospective students a chance to experience campus on May 29 with a one day event that allowed attendees to connect with future faculty members, staff, and classmates.

This event was led by the BSC Admissions and Enrollment Services Department. Due to the large collaborative effort with the rest of campus, Explore BSC is usually organized months in advance. The event takes place twice per year and sees students and their families attend from all over the United States.

“We get students from all of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, and some outlier states as well,” College Admissions Recruiter Justin Folsom said. “It’s gonna get them on campus, they can get programmatic experience, meet people that they probably most likely only hear from through email.”

Explore BSC is a recent rebranding of an open-house event BSC has had in years past. A few years ago the open house was renamed “Explore BSC” with the goal to create a whole-campus experience for prospective students. This would align with the college’s polytechnic mission of hands-on learning by giving students the chance to experience the campus programs themselves.

“We really wanted to showcase that to our prospective student engagement, so that’s why, besides getting a chance to tour campus, you actually get to hear and see from students,” Director of Recruitment and Admissions Anne Seidler said. “You get to experience hands-on different programmatic sessions with our academic areas.”

Explore BSC kicked off at 9 a.m. in the Jack Science Center. Attendees and their families stopped by for a brief check-in before heading over to Schafer Hall for a student Q&A panel. Current students took part in this event, as the panel was led by BSC Student Mygel Porter, who asked four current BSC students about their experiences at the college. BSC Student Athlete Arionna Beatty was one of the participants.

“It was actually a better experience than I anticipated,” Beatty said. “I was a little nervous going into it, but after I definitely got the grasp of it, I really did enjoy it. I feel like I did help a lot of the students. Even when I walked around, I had parents and teachers come up to me to talk about it, so that was very nice.”

With the panel wrapped up, students went out to truly “explore” BSC. Program leaders led students to their respective academic programs to get a hands-on feel for the college learning experience. At the same time, another Q&A panel opened for parents to ask questions and share any concerns regarding the campus or their child’s admission to the college.

These events left many people ready for lunch, which took place at the Student Union. Here, future students ate lunch at the Mystic Marketplace or check out the resources available to them at the Student Services Fair. Bavendick Center tours took place during and after lunch, giving students the chance to check out the new athletic facility at the college.

Eli Halstad is a student planning to pursue welding at BSC in the fall. He said he is most nervous about meeting the right people and finding his group next year, but Explore BSC helped lessen that stress.

“What I really enjoyed about today was getting to know all the staff, making new friends, and just getting to see what they offer here at BSC,” Halstad said.

At the end of the day, general campus tours were given around campus and housing tours opened as well, showcasing the residence options for students interested in living on campus. After the tours, potential students walked away with more knowledge of BSC, and some free Mystics swag.

Jared Mendoza and Michael Cheeseman are new College Admissions Recruiters, which meant that this was their first time helping with Explore BSC.

“I think it went well,” Cheeseman said. “It was a good opportunity to kind of immerse myself into the planning process and how it turns out to the parents and the prospective students that we get here. So overall, I think it went off without a hitch and I look forward to the next one.”

“Me and Michael were leading the tour guides, kind of getting everything put together with those,” Mendoza added. “That was a good experience for us, kind of seeing how to organize everything, how much actual detail goes into the process itself … it was a fun experience.”

The next Explore BSC event will take place in October and feature some of the same events and collaboration between departments. With an event like this, the weighty decision of where to go to college may not seem so daunting for students.

“I hope [prospective students] are more interested in coming to BSC, and that they’re excited about it, and that they’re impressed with campus and just have a great day and experience,” CRM Specialist Lisa Miller said.