Guides show visitors wonders of IU

The IU Art Museum doesn't have any 90-degree angles.\nThis fact is among many others the IU Visitor Information Center tour guides share with their visitors. Besides just the location of specific buildings on campus, tour guides entertain visitors with their obscure IU trivia. \nAt 1 p.m. every Sunday, tour guides lead Bloomington visitors -- not just prospective students -- around campus. This tour is separate from the tour offered by the Office of Admissions. The Visitor Center offers a personalized tour of campus to everyone from elementary student groups to alumni -- rain or shine. IU's center is different from other visitor centers because it is mainly run by students, said Director Carol Stokes. \nThough Stokes' official title is director, she is more of a supervisor than a boss because three student directors make most of the decisions. \n"The (IU Visitor Center is the) best place on campus to be working or volunteering," said senior Roman Teller, one of the student directors. "This beats them all." \nHe said the strong camaraderie between the employees and the volunteers is one of the reasons working at the Visitor Center is so great. To be considered for a volunteer tour guide position, a student must maintain a 3.0 grade point average and be at least a sophomore. \nNew volunteers must first shadow an experienced tour guide, making sure they know the history and story behind each building. Even after the training tour, new guides are paired up with older ones for the first few tours they give. \nEach tour is led by two guides, which allows groups to hear different perspectives on what makes IU special and what life is like in Bloomington.\n"Sometimes kids want to know things the parents might not want to hear," said senior Carly Willenborg, who has been a tour guide for a little more than a year. "You have to be honest, but it can be difficult to word it so the parents don't get turned off of the school."\nTour guides volunteer for many reasons. Stokes said students are interested in volunteer opportunities and that being a tour guide is a good resume builder. \n"You get to talk to the kids and see what they're interested in and discuss the ups and downs of the University," Willenborg said. "(Being a tour guide is) something fun to do." \nThough it might surprise some, the Visitor Center offers tours for a lot of younger visitors, such as elementary students, and, on average, there are usually around 20 of these types of tours every year, Stokes said.\nShe said a popular activity offered for these younger groups is an IU scavenger hunt. The activity takes approximately 45 minutes as the groups travel across campus searching for landmarks, such as the Kirkwood Observatory and the Showalter Fountain.\n-- Contact staff writer Andrea Stineback at astineba@indiana.edu.