Business and pleasure mix at CareerFest

It was all fun and games Friday afternoon as students crowded the Career Development Center lawn for the ninth annual CareerFest. CDC staff members in sunglasses and polo shirts filled paper cups with soda and signed up students for mailing lists to notify them of events and opportunities the center will offer in the future.\nLocal restaurants set up under tents at the intersection of 10th Street and Jordan Avenue, and handed out free plates of food. The Caribbean funk band Bahama Llama played live music from the entrance as students sprawled out on the lawn with free barbecued chicken and beans.\nCDC Director Patrick Donahue said he hopes the lawn party made students aware of the center's accessibility. \n"A student said to me the other day we're the best kept secret on campus," he said. "There are so many students we're seeing here who have never even been by our office. A lot of students pass us all the time because of the location. We just try to get them in our door."\nThe CDC holds several annual career events, including an Internship Fair in Feb. and an Information Technology Fair to be held Sept. 29 .\nThe center also offers walk-in career counseling and career development courses such as Q294: Basic Career Development, and Q400: Job Search Strategies for Liberal Arts Majors . \nCareerFest kicks off the year for the CDC, giving students an overview of the center's services with informational fliers and a two-minute tour of the facility. Students who took the tour were given the opportunity to enter a raffle for prizes donated by Hewlett-Packard. \n"This is really just for fun," CDC Assistant Director Jennifer Coxsaid. "We don't want to give the impression that there are employers here. We want to give the impression that you can come, we want to help you, we're great to be around and we're having a good time." \nMotivations were varied among students who dropped by the event. \n"I'm not looking for a job," senior Heidi Kuhlenschmidt said. "I'm going to medical school after this. I'm here because I walked by and it said 'free food'." \nFreshman Eric Weigel decided to come after seeing a flier for the event. He summed up his reasons for going to CareerFest while standing in line for the two-minute tour. \n"I was just looking to see what careers are available. I'm looking to see what's out there."\n- Contact staff writer Annie Tasker at atasker@indiana.edu.