What is it that makes a college campus memorable? What is it that makes some prospective students choose one college over the other?
The answer changes depending on who you ask; but for me, it was the students I met that won me over to Dickinson College.
When it came down to deciding between Dickinson and the other school, which I will keep unnamed out of courtesy, it was something intangible and unmeasurable that proved to be that deciding factor.
While both looked very similar on paper, it was the difference in communities that helped me choose Dickinson.
When I finally arrived at Dickinson in the fall, where was I sure to get involved? Admissions.
I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to volunteer for the Admissions Office, among other things.
Luckily enough, I was able to join up with the Dickinson Tritons program, which enabled me to eat lunches with prospective students, help out at registration and receptions for the big visit days, participate on panels, and host overnights.
Now looking back over the past few years, Tritons has provided me with some of my most memorable experiences at Dickinson College.
The Admissions Office is a great place to get involved with on any college campus. Certainly, there are some surface level reasons: it does look good on your resume and if you are a tour guide, you get your own card.
Furthermore, it is really hard to pass up the free food and coffee that comes from participating in the larger events. (It is especially hard to argue against the latter.) However, digging beneath the surface, it is easy to find a plethora of various other benefits to volunteering in Admissions.
Firstly, some of the best students I work with on campus volunteer for admissions. We all come from different majors and extracurricular activities and have likely had varying experiences on campus.
We are drawn together by one thing -- the love of our school. In fact, we love it so much, that we want others to share that feeling.
It is not just the students that I work with that make it worthwhile, but also the prospective students that I get to meet.
One of the coolest things about aiding in the big visit days is that I can be talking to one individual from only a half hour away, turn to the next person, who happens to be from halfway across the country.
Every individual I get to meet has a different story to tell, and it is absolutely wonderful to be able to hear and engage with it.
As a volunteer for admissions, it is my job to help the prospective student find their best fit for colleges, meaning I can attempt to show them how their story could potentially fit with Dickinson, all the while providing other important information and advice for the college search process.
As an Admissions volunteer, I am forced to examine what I like about the college, what I think it does very well, and what I would like to see improved. Because of this introspection and analysis, I am able to gain an even greater appreciation and knowledge of campus.
My experience with Admissions has not just been about the people I have met, or the realizations it has given me; it has also dealt with various skills that I have gained throughout my few years of involvement.
Through my involvement with one on one lunch hosting and at the big events, I have improved my ability to articulate ideas, whether personal, school related, or dealing specifically with the prospective student.
Moreover, I have furthered my understanding on how to sustain a conversation for a prolonged period of time.
As a lunch host, the prospective students usually have about 50-minutes to eat, leaving a large time to be filled with conversation before their next activity.
Furthermore, in general terms, volunteering for Admissions has helped me capability in being empathetic and helpful. In being an Admissions volunteer, I have had to place myself within the metaphoric shoes of prospective students, and try to guide them toward their best path.
For me, what has resonated most has been how I have honed my capacity for mingling at large events. I will never forget my first large visit day; I sat awaiting visitors in the Anita Tuvin Schlecter (ATS) Auditorium lobby, pictured below.
In the center was a table filled with baked goods, fruit platters, and drinks (lots of coffee). At first, families came in slowly, but before too long, the place was filled with people. It was almost like a maze trying to get by people.
My task was to talk to some of the families. Feeling completely overwhelmed, I found the easiest potential conversation nearby one of the doors.
The conversation went along well, and I slowly moved to the next candidate. Over time, the task got easier and easier with practice, and now, it is always a blast to go to the big events.
Volunteering for admissions is, by far, easily one of the best decisions that I have made at Dickinson College. It has been such a memorable experience for me.
Sometimes it is the simple things, finding a prospective student from your home state or nearby where you live. It is the success stories that you bump into on campus, only less than a year after their visit.
But in the grand scheme of things, I find joy in that I am giving back to and helping my college. In short, I took the kindness that Admissions volunteers once gave to me, and passed it on to the next iteration of college students.
Perhaps some of them too will pass it on as well, for volunteering in the Admissions Office has been an absolute blast.
