Most prospective students experience the Elizabethtown College campus and community for the first time during a guided tour, especially during Accepted Students Days and Open House visits. A good tour guide with the ability to answer their burning questions can make or break their decision to attend, and Etown’s Blue Jay Ambassadors fill that role.
According to the job posting on Etown’s website, ambassadors are expected to interact directly with prospective students and their families. They provide tours during the week and for the aforementioned larger events while creating a friendly and welcoming environment. Additionally, they are tasked with clerical work such as helping with mail, filing and data entry.
Senior Mathematics Secondary Education major Griffen MacLaren said he’s typically stationed in the admissions office for about four hours per week. He and three of his coworkers spend their time preparing postcards and brochures to be sent to prospective students, pausing to give tours of the campus whenever one is scheduled during their shift.
MacLaren decided to pursue the position after his own tour of the campus before committing to Etown. Information about the Blue Jay Ambassador role had been shared with him by his tour guide, now-graduated Blue Jay Ambassador Olivia Eason.
“It was reiterated when I was here for Open House and Accepted Student Days,” MacLaren said. “Both my peer mentors were also Blue Jay Ambassadors, and I saw an advertisement for the need of summer Blue Jay Ambassadors.”
With so much information about the position available to him, MacLaren decided he wanted to apply.
“I wanted the job as I have a love for this campus,” he said. “I love my time here at Elizabethtown College. I wanted to enlighten the future generation of students and help them along their college process. I wanted to build relationships with prospective students and acquaint them with the College.”
Once he had applied through the website, MacLaren completed an interview and was later hired for the role.
“There is a thorough training process about how to give tours and learning where all the different departments are around campus,” he said. According to MacLaren, this includes statistics like when the College was founded, the student to faculty ratio and the number of currently enrolled students.
For MacLaren, this is the most difficult aspect of his job. Statistics change frequently, and tour guides need to have them memorized alongside many other facts to share on the spot. They also need to know which pieces of information each prospective student needs the most to help them make a decision.
“There is a lot of information and data that a Blue Jay Ambassador needs to know while they are out giving a tour,” he said. “There are various reasons and factors that might make a school appeal to one student and very different factors to another student. As Blue Jay Ambassadors, we need to make sure we have a wide range of knowledge prepared to share and make sure it is accurate because a lot of times, the tour is the first time prospective students are interacting with campus, and you are making sure they have the most positive experience on a tour.”
Despite the occasional challenges that surround creating the perfect touring experience, MacLaren truly enjoys what he does.
“I think [what I] like most about the position is sharing my joy for the school with prospective students,” MacLaren said. “I get to engage with the possible future students at this College. I love getting to meet all sorts of new people and hearing their stories while we are taking in the natural beauty of the campus.”
MacLaren encourages current students to apply for the position when openings become available. According to him, it’s so much fun that it “doesn’t feel like a job.”
