Tour guides help future students

They walk backwards more than forwards. They showed you how your first dorm room would look, and they were some of the first students you met before you came to IU.

They are the Residential Programs and Services student tour guides, and they’re always at your service.

However, most people do not know much about these guides other than that general description.

RPS’ current tour guides are IU students who range from freshmen to seniors. Their job is to help prospective students get a glimpse of dorm life and to feel less intimidated about the college lifestyle.

“My favorite part about giving a tour is the Q-and-A, because you get to make it personalized,” said senior Tim Gross, who has been an IU guide for more than a year.

Gross enjoys telling prospective students about IU and finding them ways to make the campus feel more like home. He encourages students to get involved in groups and is a huge promoter of Collins Living-Learning Center.

“I like me some IU, and I like me some Collins,” he said.

Freshman Sarah Hayden decided to become a tour guide because she felt she could easily relate to incoming freshmen.

“It was not too long ago I was in their shoes,” she said. “I know what questions and feelings they have.”

It is important for RPS tour guides to relate to future Hoosiers because they are often the windows into the lives of college students.

“I know the tour guides had a big impact on my decision to come to IU,” said sophomore Elise Masciale. “They are the closest I got to real students.”

In fact, the positive influence the guides had during her visit is one of the reasons Masciale decided to become an RPS tour guide.

“I wanted to be able to motivate people to come to IU like that,” she said.

However, being a tour guide is also beneficial to the guides themselves.

“It helps you work on public speaking and talking in front of groups,” Gross said.

Junior Libby Swanger, director of RPS tour guides, encourages interested IU students to become guides in the future.

“In the summer, tour guides are always needed,” she said.

Summer tour guides are provided a free dorm room and pre-paid meal points.

Swanger said all the spots are full for this semester, but students can e-mail her if they are interested in becoming a tour guide in the spring.

Tour guides during the school year receive $750 per semester off their room and board.

The requirements are living in one of the residence halls, a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and availability to conduct two to three tours per week. Interested students can contact Swanger at eswanger@indiana.edu.

Swanger said it is all about sharing an enthusiasm for IU.

“I like meeting new people and learning why they want to come to IU,” Masciale said. “I especially like getting them excited, because seeing them excited about IU makes it worth it.”