My first on-campus job at High Point University was as an usher for our president's Freshman lecture class. It was myself, 12 other upperclassmen, and the student success network that helped President Qubein with more logistically items such as attendance, picking up final papers, and anything that the President should not have to worry about.
I know that most schools do not have the privilege to know the president, see the president or have a class taught by the President of the school. But at HPU, the freshman take eight, one-and-a-half hour lectures, once a week. It is designed to give freshman life skills that can be used in personal, academic, and professional settings. It is also a way that the freshman gets to see President Qubein in person and not just think that he stays in his office all day and go all four years without seeing him once.
With President Qubein being a very eccentric public speaker with wide hand gestures, jokes, and overall excitement about life. Some of his lectures are "Effective Communication Skills", "Public Speaking and Presentation Skills", "Time Management" and "How to Be Successful in Everything You Do". President Qubein also uses gifts for his students to explain his lesson of that day. The students received a t-shirt saying "Great Day" to remind the students that they day is what you make it, a teddy bear to give to someone who made a difference in their lives, and a balancing bird to help them understand how to keep life in balance.
As an usher, my job was just that, to usher the freshman in and out in an orderly fashion. Every usher was given a floor in the auditorium and we would be in charge of that floor. We told the freshmen to meet in the middle of the section and to fill every seat. During his lecture, we made sure that the students were paying attention, showing general respect, and making sure all the phones were off. At the end of the lecture, we took attendance and gave any gifts out for the freshman. And we did it twice a day with two sessions of 700+ freshman in each lecture. Sure it was hard trying to get them in and out neatly without any backups.
We also worked closely with the student success network to make sure that all the students turned in their papers on the due date, voicing any ideas on how to better our own group, and helping with any questions that they freshman may have that we, as students, couldn't answer.
I loved ushering in this class. I took his lecture class last year as a freshman and being able to watch President Qubein speak again was a privilege for myself. I took the information he gave us in a different way because I have a year and half of college education and experience under my belt. But as a Peer Mentor and First Navigator, this was a way that I could check in on my freshman weekly and get to know them and their friends better. because I took the information he gave us in a different way. I also got benefits from this as well. I got leadership experience, knowledge from his lectures, and for the first time this year, myself and the other ushers got the honor to have lunch with President Qubein and the Vice Provost of the school
If I could do it again, I would in a heartbeat because it was satisfying experience and I saw it more than just a job. I was excited to go every week and see him speak. It was a great class to be in and just being there to help made it worth while to be a part of.
