Your little boy is all grown up ? one minute he?s running around the house in Garanimals, and the next his voice is so deep you think Barry White?s in the house. It almost brings a tear to your eye.

You are so proud of him, he?s in his last year of senior school, with pretty good grades, and oh my, what an athlete ? if only he?d get up from in front of the X-Box and make a decision about his future!

Well, help is on the way! On December 2 and 3, the Ministry of Education and Development, along with the Bermuda College, the Bermuda Careers Centre, The Bermuda Hospitals Board and B.TEC will be hosting the First Annual International College Fair. With over 40 colleges and universities from the US, UK and Canada attending, your somewhat clueless offspring will finally get an idea about what the world of higher education has to offer.

This is a great opportunity for all students ? whether they have memorised the application deadlines for the Ivy Leagues, or whether they have gleaned all they know about college from watching re-runs of A Different World.

Helping your child choose a college is a really big deal ? one of the biggest deals you?ll make as a parent. The fact that university costs are upwards of $80,000 for four years is reason enough to sit up and pay attention.

But then add in the fact that a college education is going to be key in preparing your child for his or her future. Period. Whether they go to college, where they go to college, and what they choose to study will be a huge determining factor in career, salary, and quality of life.

Okay, so now you?ve been reminded of how important it is ? and you?re feeling a little nervous. It?s okay Mom and Dad. The International College Fair Team is here to debunk the college process! Over the next few weeks, these articles will address how to get from here (looking at your child in disgust because no applications have gone out) to there (waving goodbye to her at the airport, with plans to turn her room into a home gym)!

Ready? The first step is research. Then the second step is research. Third step? Research!

You, along with your child need to determine what it is you are looking for in a college ? that means what you can afford to pay, what type of university and what programme you want to enrol in, where in the world do you want to go (taking into mind costs of travel back and forth when junior is missing his mama), and a number of other factors!

Where do you start? This generation is blessed with the best research tool at their fingertips ? the Internet!

No flipping through ?1001 Colleges and Universities ? Volume K-M? for you and your child! One of the best websites around is www.collegeboard.com.

Say little Suzy wants a school in an urban environment that offers advanced cello, and has an honours programme in zoology! CollegeBoard will find it for you. Or perhaps little Johnny isn?t looking to pursue a degree right now, but wants to see what colleges offer certifications in masonry. The site allows you to enter your search criteria from their vast and varied menus, and will show you only the colleges that match.

Once you have a list of the schools you want to look into, the second set of research begins! Now you can visit the individual university websites to find out everything you need to know.

What?s the housing like? What are the criteria for international students? Is the programme accredited (way important!)? And most importantly, ?what do you get with the meal plan?? Narrow your list down to the schools that most closely match with all of the crucial issues.

The key to successful research is ensuring that you and your child are aware of what you?re looking for! Otherwise, how will you know when you?ve found it?

That will take some discussion ? honest discussion about what your child really wants to do with his or her life. So pry the PS2 control and the cell phone out of their hands and really chat with them about their goals and what they are interested in.

This will go a long way towards making the process less painful ? for both of you.

So now that their interests and goals have been matched to colleges, the application process can begin! Yikes? Next Week: The application process