Although I took on about four jobs this summer (I like staying VERY busy), I was able to fit time in my schedule to work part-time at Rice as a tour guide. At first, I thought it would be a simple way to fill my time and brag about the school that I love, but it has turned into much more than that. Even though I plan on continuing as a tour guide in the fall, I've already learned so much this summer from my fellow tour guides and participants.

First off, it's better to be excited (about the tour). This goes for everyone: me (as the guide), the students on the tour, the parents on the tour, and anyone else who might be on the tour or meeting with students. As a tour guide, you must be excited about what you're showing. If you're not excited about your school, why should your participants be? As a high school student, you should be excited about this school; it is a prospect in your future, and you could be spending four years of your life here. Work with your tour guide to make your experience the most positive it can be. As a parent or family member, support your future college-goer by being (or at least seeming) excited about their future. Even if the school isn't your first pick for them, each student subconsciously picks up on signals you're sending out, so make sure those signals say, "I'm here for you and I support your choices as a soon-to-be-adult." In general, it's better to go into things with a positive attitude. It usually makes the activity a lot more enjoyable for all parties involved.

Secondly, everyone can always learn something. While this is especially true for students and their parents going on tours about a school they know nothing about, this rings true for everyone. Every tour, I'm asked a question I don't know the answer to or haven't heard, or I'm told a fact about Houston/Rice that I've never heard before. As a tour guide, you're supposed to be able to answer as many questions as you can, but no one knows everything. Embrace the fact that others know something you don't and are willing to share that information. I love adding new facts about Houston to my list, and I know that prospective students care about what I'm telling them about Rice, since they wouldn't have gone on a tour if they already knew everything about the school. Everyone has a different perspective and new information to offer, so listen.

Thirdly, not everyone gets that "magical feeling." Specific to college touring, a phrase that is often thrown around is "I just knew it was the right place for me." But many times, this doesn't happen. Sure, we can feel different about a certain place (or thing or person) and wonder more about it, but just because we don't immediately feel like it is "the one" doesn't mean that it isn't a good fit. Often, people need more time to decide whether or not something is right for them, so don't be discouraged if it takes more thought and isn't a gut feeling.

Fourth, accept what you feel and move on. Sometimes, a fit just isn't right. The student may know in the first five minutes of the tour or may not realize until much later, but there's no use in forcing someone to feel a certain way. It's best to continue on with the tour or continue on with life and try your best to do what you can for other people. When I see that a student may not be as interested in my school as I want them to be, I try to bring out some fun facts about the school or ask them what sort of things they're interested in, in a way to make it more relevant for them. But if a student doesn't want to participate, I must move on and focus on the most important thing, which is presenting my school in the best way possible to everyone else in the tour group who drove or flew from far places to visit. Accept the things you cannot change and work to change the things you can. (Pretty sure that's a famous quote.)

Fifth, appreciate the little things. I love when I take students to one of the most beautiful buildings on campus that has an intricate and well-designed ceiling (Duncan Hall, for all my fellow Ricers). They all look up and gasp, and it makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world to be able to show "outsiders" a cool piece of my school. I feel so honored to be able to not only attend my school, but to be able to tell others about what makes it so great. It makes me so happy when other people see what I love about it, and get to decide for themselves how great it is. Every "ooh" or "ahh" I get regarding the artwork on campus or traditions at the university is so uplifting, and makes me appreciate all that Rice has to offer. Even though a tradition may seem boring to me because I've heard it talked about a lot, my excitement for that tradition is reignited upon hearing prospective students talk about how cool it is to them. I am reminded to not take my school for granted. What may be routine or boring for one person could be incredibly interesting for another. Take a step back every once in a while and look at things for what they are: usually, pretty awesome.

Sixth, don't be scared to speak up. In a lot of cases, we all have something that we each know a lot about. As a tour guide, the obvious answer is your school. As a guide, I've learned the best way to share my knowledge about Rice with others. Sometimes it's hard to share things about my school when I have an alum or someone who knows a lot about Rice in my group, but I trust myself and share what I know to be true about Rice in my experience. That's all we can ever really do, right? Share what we know based off of our own experiences. If we all do that, and listen to other people share their experiences, we'll all have a pretty good setup. Trust yourself, open your mind to the experiences of others, and enjoy what life teaches you.

Tour guiding has been a really eye-opening experience, and I'm so thankful I pursued tour guiding as one of my jobs this summer. Every day that I work as a tour guide, I get so excited to talk about Rice, the school that I love, in front of people who are just as excited to hear about it. I hope I've convinced a few people to come to Rice, or at least helped a student or two discover the right school for them. That's all it's about in the end. Whether or not a student chooses Rice, we want them to be happy wherever they are, just as we want the incoming class of Rice students to be ecstatic about their future lives as Rice Owls. Choosing a college is a special process, and with the necessary support and positivity, it can be a really wonderful experience. If you're thinking of being a tour guide, I highly recommend it.