Tour guide loves spreading school spirit 

By Allison Fama

BECOMING a tour guide was something that I always knew I wanted to do when I became a college student. When I came to Rider, I decided to apply for a tour guide position because I knew I wanted to share with prospective students how much I loved my school and be an influence as to why one might want to join our Rider community. 

When I found out I got the job at the end of my freshman year, I was ecstatic. I got to move in a week early before the start of sophomore year, and I went through a thorough three-day training process where I learned the ins and outs of how to give a tour, and how to add in my own personal stories about Rider to share with prospective students. By the end of September, after completing three mock tours, I was officially a tour guide.

During my first year in the job, I met so many fantastic people, both through the Office of Admissions, and on my tours with new prospective students. One of my favorite moments I’ve experienced so far was getting to see a student that I had on my very first tour at an Admitted Students Day who had officially committed to Rider. 

She came up to me during our student bingo session and said to me, “I don’t know if you remember me, but I was on one of your tours back in September. I loved your tour and you made me love Rider after just one visit.” That moment reminded me of why I wanted to do this job in the first place; to share with people what I love the most about Rider and why they too would love being a Bronc.

As the year went on and changes for the upcoming academic year took place, I decided that I wanted to apply to become a lead tour guide. The job requires one to be an example for all new and returning tour guides, help with the training process, and be of assistance to the visit team during all admissions events such as open houses and Admitted Student Days. 

I started by doing an individual interview, then moved to the next round which was a group interview with all the other candidates. A week before the end of the spring semester, I found out that I got the job with all the other candidates that were up for the job as well. I was absolutely thrilled to be working with all seven of these people, and I knew that we were going to make a great team.

I have absolutely loved every minute of being a tour guide for Rider, and I would recommend it to anyone who was interested. Being someone’s first impression of Rider can be a big responsibility, but it is also very rewarding to see the smiles on the prospective students’ faces when the tour is over. 

I am thankful every day that I took this job, and I can’t wait for another two years of presenting Rider and how extraordinary of a school we are to our future students.