“And right here on my left is another construction.”
That is what 4,000 prospective students and parents are going to see a lot of during campus tours this term.
It is the mission of student ambassadors to introduce the campus and the university to them.
Student ambassador and multicultural recruiter, Frank Laro takes the mission personally. A junior with a double major in sociology and Spanish, Laro was the first in his family to go to college.
He sat down with the Emerald to talk about his experiences.
Q: What do you learn about the university as a student ambassador?
A: Being a student ambassador is definitely what you make of it. Our campus is really big, so it’s easy to miss a lot of things. Now I know all the buildings and departments. So all of my friends ask me, “Hey Frank, I have a class here, where is that at?” It definitely helps me map out the university and know that the university does a lot.
Q: How do you handle explaining all the new construction on campus?
A: I get very excited when I explain about new constructions, because I know that the university is putting a lot more for the students. It’s like with the Rec Center, which has become my favorite part of the tour now. Whenever the students and parents go to the Rec Center, their eyes just light up and that creates a whole different vibe for the tour every time. So if they get excited with buildings like the Rec Center, I could imagine what their reaction is going to be like to see the new EMU or the science library.
Q: Any stand-out story?
A: I remember it was a Dad, and he was an alumnus. On the tour he kept saying, “Oh! This is nothing like when I was going to school. It was so awesome with all the expansion.” He really wanted his daughter to come to the university, so he was doing the work for me to persuade his daughter to apply for the school.
Q: Does the construction make it more difficult to conduct tours?
A: I don’t find it necessarily difficult. I keep updated on what is going on, because each of the construction is making different progress at different times. I have to make sure that the whole tour is wheel chair accessible for any of our guests that come. The construction definitely has changed a little bit of our routes, but it’s not too bad. And I know looking at construction might not be the prettiest, but I tell them that it’s going to be so much more exciting. Our campus is so much larger that a lot of great buildings are going into – the construction is just a cherry on top.
Q: Any other thoughts?
A: When I get compliments after each tour, or people send emails to tell us that we had an exceptional program, nothing is better than being complimented at the end of the day. My job is a lot of hard work, a lot of memorization and on-the-spot reactions to questions and concerns, but it’s definitely worth it at the end.
The one-year student ambassador program for 2015-2016 is now accepting applications until April 26. Click here for more details.