Throughout my time at Stevens thus far, I have held many different on campus jobs. From ushering in DeBaun, yelling at Summer Pre-College students who refused to go to bed at 11 p.m., and my newly acquired student grader job, I have definitely experienced a lot for my slightly higher than minimum wage positions. All of my jobs have had their funny stories to share with friends, but nothing compares to my stories from tour guiding.
Some of my favorites include the ridiculous questions I have received from parents, the impromptu “let’s avoid Babbio because there’s a giant sinkhole” discussion from my boss, and, my personal favorite, the student who sent me their SAT scores and transcript to get my opinion if they’ll be admitted into Stevens (to which I seriously question how I got into this school). The funniest scenarios, however, have been when I have been wished Happy Birthday on a tour; “funniest” in the most sarcastic way possible.
Many believe the most difficult part of tour guiding is walking backwards. Though I have a scar on my knee from tripping outside of EAS to justify that claim, the groove and pace of a tour in order to really sell the school is truly the hardest part. Taking that 10 page script of facts and figures and transforming it into a one hour “show” is not as easy as it sounds. Just as many students find it hard to pay attention in a monotone lecture, prospective families find it hard to pay attention if a tour guide isn’t lively while spitting out the information effectively. It took me many weeks to figure out the pacing and the most entertaining jokes to include in order to sell Stevens to the future ducks. Wishing me a happy birthday utterly destroys that pace and a tour can sometimes get ruined by a friend making what they believe is a harmless joke.
Families love to see tour guides saying hello to their friends as they walk across campus and they LOVE EVEN MORE when those friends wish the tour guide a happy birthday. The amount of times I have answered questions of why I didn’t take off the morning of my tour for my birthday is getting a little annoying for my amusement. For whatever reason, having a friend scream across Palmer Lawn breaks me out of the groove and leaves me stumbling to pick up where I left off. What could have been the “greatest tour ever oh my gosh I really want to come here” tour for a student then becomes the “most meh tour of the month oh my gosh get me out of here” tour.
I might be being a little over-dramatic, but it’s the first impressions that really count. If Office of Undergraduate Admissions doesn’t sell the student and, more importantly, the parents on Stevens in that initial visit, it’s very rare that they will come back. In a time that Stevens is slowly but surely going through many drastic changes, especially those affecting the student body, Admissions needs to continue to receive applications and accept the best of the best in high schools all around the nation. A student’s first step in even considering Stevens is the campus tour. That little “Happy Birthday, Katie!” might not be the best thing to do for the future of Stevens.
At the end of the day, if you see me on campus or any one of the tour guides doing their job, don’t disrupt us. Unless we’re about to run into a person and/or a stop sign (guilty of both), you are causing more harm to the future student body of Stevens than good. If it’s not my birthday, don’t wish me a happy birthday; unless it’s February 5th, then do whatever you want.
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