One of the most gratifying things about being a tour guide is having a family send you an email and thank you for taking you around on tour. I have gotten that email only once or twice in my lifetime but those emails are what makes it all worthwhile. I had recently received one of those emails over the weekend and it really brightened my day because of it.

When I opened my email, I did not recognize the name of the person it was addressed to. At first, I thought it was spam; until I opened it. The email was addressed to me, which isn’t out of the ordinary. Then it hit me, this was one of the prospective students that I had given a tour to the prior weekend.

The email read something like this: "Hey Hunter, thanks for taking me on a visit. I really appreciate what you had to tell me, I could tell that you are very passionate about the school and all it has to offer. Due to that reason, as well as academically, I have chosen to come to Ursinus."

Once I read that, I was grinning from ear to ear. There are no words to explain the warm feeling that you get when you realize that you were the difference in someone’s life. If you stop and really think about it, you really just made a difference in a whole mess of people’s lives. What I mean by that is, you've made a difference in the student’s life, as well as their family, their friends and others that I am probably missing. The best part about being a tour guide is that you made a positive difference, which is something most people can't say.

It also makes you think of all the student who don’t send that email that you may or may not have made a difference in their lives, as well. It makes you realize, as a tour guide you really are important. There are countless members of the admissions team that say that, but now I kind of believe it. We are the face of Ursinus College, and we tour guide serve it well. I just hope that with my remaining few weeks I can make a big difference in as many lives as I can.