Student Ambassadors
Before coming to college, I visited several schools and toured each campus. I specifically remember my tour here at Minnesota State and how great of an impact my tour guide had on me. She shared about many of the clubs and activities she was involved in and things she loved about the university. She had so many positive things to say and affirmed my decision to choose MSU. After a semester into college here, I heard about the campus organization of student ambassadors, and I decided I wanted to join this organization. I wanted to help future students during this exciting yet challenging time in the same way that my tour guide helped me.
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As a student ambassador, I give campus tours to prospective students and their guests. I represent our university in a positive way and highlight the many things that I admire about our school. Most of my involvement in student ambassadors consists of giving campus tours to groups of up to 25 prospective students. With these groups, I share about our campus and my personal experiences, and I answer questions from the students and guests. I also serve on panels with other student ambassadors and respond to questions from groups of up to 300 prospective students.
Being a student ambassador has helped me grow in my leadership, specifically in large group settings. Prior to joining this organization, I was not as comfortable speaking in front of large groups. The thought of leading a group of people I did not know around campus was intimidating. Through reflection, I realized that the reason why I found this intimidating was because I had never done anything like it before. In high school, I helped freshman students transition to high school and gave them a tour of the school, but this was much different. Here, I am expected to memorize a 90-minute tour route with a script and answer questions from students and parents. I remember reading through the manual they gave us and feeling overwhelmed. I worried about my ability to memorize the script and provide the families with a great experience. I did not feel equipped to do this. However, I chose to join the group because I wanted to help prospective students while growing in my leadership skills.
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An important lesson I have learned through giving campus tours is reading the nonverbal communication of a group. As a leader, it is important to have this ability. Body language is a significant part of communication, and communication is an essential part of a successful team. As I give tours, I am receptive to the participants’ engagement. Some participants ask lots of questions and laugh at my jokes. This often indicates that they want more interaction, so I ask them more questions and tell more stories. Other participants do not ask many questions or often speak quietly amongst themselves, discussing their thoughts about the campus. I take this as a sign to allow more time for silence so that they can talk with each other and take in the views on campus. Reading body language allows me to give a tour that suits each prospective student and makes them feel comfortable. It allows me to communicate well with others and offer advice that I think will be meaningful to them. My goal as a leader is always to help others. In the case of student ambassadors, I do this by helping students see how our university might be a good fit for them. In my future as a speech pathologist, this will look different. My purpose as a leader will be to help clients overcome their communication difficulties. Whatever leadership positions I may hold in the future, reading their verbal and nonverbal communication will allow me to better understand and serve those I interact with.
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I once was presented with an opportunity to give a special tour in Spanish to a family who didn’t speak English. Although I’m studying Spanish, my speaking abilities were not as proficient as I would have liked to give a campus tour. Despite feeling nervous and unqualified, I volunteered to do it. I was only at a mid-proficiency level, and I had very minimal experience speaking with native speakers. I felt unprepared and even thought it would have been better for the family if someone who was more fluent in Spanish was giving the tour. I had given so many tours in English that I felt I could give one in my sleep. I knew my script for each part of the tour and felt confident with each one. When it came to giving one in Spanish though, I felt nervous. I worried about whether I would be able to say everything I wanted to and if I would say it correctly. I had to take some extra time to think about how I was going to communicate my thoughts. I felt nervous because I wanted to do a good job. I wanted the family to like me and enjoy the tour. I had a few days to prepare, so I practiced saying each part of the script in Spanish. I tried to memorize words that I was not familiar with. When it was finally time to give the tour, I felt excited but still nervous. I prefaced the tour by telling the family that my Spanish was not perfect, but that I would do my best to show them how great our university is. I was pleasantly surprised that after giving it my best effort, the family was very appreciative and reassured me that it was easy to follow and understand. They even told me that my Spanish sounded very good. The family’s feedback grew my confidence in speaking Spanish, and it also helped me grow as a leader. It taught me that I can still be a leader and make an impact even when I don’t feel the most equipped. I anticipate that in future leadership positions, I will often experience these same feelings of being unequipped or unqualified. These are normal feelings, as taking on a leadership role comes with many new responsibilities. Having felt this inadequacy from giving the Spanish tour will help me in future leadership roles.
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This experience taught me that I can still be a leader and make an impact even when I don’t feel the most equipped. I anticipate that in future leadership positions, I will often experience these same feelings of being unequipped or unqualified. These are normal feelings, as taking on a leadership role comes with many new responsibilities. Having felt this inadequacy from giving the tour in Spanish will help me in future leadership roles because I will look back and remember that even when I felt doubtful and unequipped, I still helped others and made a positive impact on them. Learning this will help me as I preapare for graduate school. Right away, I will begin providing services to clients, which will be my first time working one-on-one with a client. I have talked to current graduate students who have expressed how nerve-wracking those first sessions can be. Just as I confidently gave a tour feeling unprepared, I believe that I will be able to provide services despite it being my first time doing so by myself. I am thankful for what I have learned through being a student ambassador and know it will stick with me in future leadership roles.