Williston tours are in full force as the tour season begins.  Admissions is already being flooded with calls and appointments as the prospective students begin to express their interest in Williston.

At Williston, all students are welcome to become tour guides to show off the school to prospective parents. Becoming a tour guide is easy; it does not matter if you’ve been to Williston for one year or almost six.

Every year new students become a part of the Gold Key society, the club that works in admissions giving tour. In the Admissions office there are 22 interns who work behind the scenes to ensure that all tours go smoothly.

Admissions interns work on a cycle; they are separated into groups and work to keep all the tours moving swiftly. The first week they find out which students are coming to visit. Then proceed send out emails to prospective families asking them if they have any questions or teachers they would like to meet with.

The following week interns assign tours to tour guides and wait for them to accept the tours. If they don’t accept the tour the interns look for another guide, however, if they do accept they just wait until the follow week which is the “Go” week.  In the “Go” week, interns are on call and ensure that all tours have guides to go with them. If there are any problems they are in charge of fixing them.

At Williston there are many tour guides among the student body. For first year students, becoming a tour guide can be a scary experience, however, the admissions office makes sure everyone is ready to give a tour by allowing new students to shadow returning tour guides.

PG Spencer Danforth spoke about becoming a tour guide this year. “I was a tour guide at my old school and I feel confident about how to present the school,” he said.

Yet all new students, even the oldest ones, still get a little scared.

“I’m afraid that I’m going to go into a building or entering a class room with a teacher I’ve never met and not know what to say,” Danforth said. Yet he was reassured when he was told that he would have a minimal chance of this happening.

Three returning senior admissions interns also answer some questions about their time at Williston working at admissions. Saul Blain, who has been in admissions since he arrived his sophomore year, said that he originally became a tour guide, “to give new students the ability an opportunity to have their own Williston experience.”

Blain enjoys his position, as he can bring new students in and teach them how to present the school so that they can give prospective students the same opportunities that he and the rest of the student body have. His most memorable moment as a tour guide was touring a group of over eight people. Saul did have some words for new students giving tours: “Be bold and do something like this that is out of your comfort zone.”

Leah Pezanowski has been a tour guide for three years, originally becoming a tour guide because, “it was an easy way to get involved and it played to my strengths.” Leah loves being a tour guide because she can see the “extreme impact she is having on potential students.”

Tours are so vital to the application process anywhere,” she said, “because it is the first glimpse into campus and the environment a school has. I also enjoy the hot chocolate and coffee of cold days of course.”

“My most memorable moment as a tour guide was the tour that I took quickly to my room right off the bat, after that we ran into another girl who lived in the dorm,” Pezanowski added. “The two of us talked to the family for over a half an hour, about everything from dorm life to academic life. We did not make it to any of the buildings but the family was beyond pleased because they said they really got a feel for what Williston is really about. The girl is here now!”

Due to moments like these and her love for meeting new people, Pezanowski became an admissions intern after her sophomore year. “I became an admissions intern because I wanted to get closer to the tour process,” she said. “It has been an incredible experience and one that has really helped me with skills that will carry on through my life.”

Pezanowski has great advice to new students who are looking to be tour guides.

“New students should reach out to be tour guides because it is a great way to get to know campus for yourself, and also a good way to discover what about Williston really excites them” she said. “When talking to families and explaining what about Williston is the source of a new students passion, they can learn more about themselves and how they can lend a hand to those new families.” Pezanowski wants also students to carry one thing while they give tours. “Relax, be yourself and laugh. Laughing makes everyone more comfortable.”

Natalie Aquadro has been giving tours since freshmen year; in middle school she used to do shadow tours. Her enthusiastic personality flows right into her tours as she originally became a tour guide because she, “loves Williston and really enjoys talking about it. I like talking to perspective students and I think that it is really rewarding.”

Aquadro enjoys meeting new students because she gets to share her love of Williston and answer any questions they might have.  Her favorite moment from being a tour guide was that, “One time I had a really sweet tour from China and she asked to take a picture with me at the end because she liked me so much.”

Aquadro advises all students to become tour guides because, “it’s a really good way to give back to the school, and it also increases your appreciation for Williston. When you talk about it and stuff it makes you realize how great of a place it is.”

Aquadro also had a few words of advice for any student who might be scared to make the decision of giving back to Williston. “Don’t be too scared that you may not know enough about Williston, because you most likely know more than anyone visiting,” she said. “Also just embrace it because it’s a really cool opportunity that you can’t have just anywhere.”

Being in Admissions is an extremely rewarding experience, you can see many people in the community believe this. It is one of the best ways to give back to the community. If anyone is interested please email Mrs. Talbot-Syfu in Admissions or just simply poke your head in and talk to anyone inside, they are all very friendly.