Daisy’s Docents

Last week we had our first Tour Guide training of the new semester and with the new group as a whole.  These girls are ready to roll, and I’m soooo excited to be working with them!  The first agenda item after introductions and general housekeeping was to rename the group.  We’ve been using Tour Guide for years, and we thought it was about time that the group was allowed to choose what they should be called.  After a brainstorming session over pizza, three choices were brought to the table.  We held an e-mail vote later in the week, and on Friday after the last votes came in we had a clear winner.

I’m proud to announce that our Tour Guide Program for next year will now be called Daisy’s Docents.  I think it’s a great choice by our new Docents, and I’m incredibly proud to be the Docent Advisor

Holla, Holla, Daisy’s Docents!!

And we’re back!

Dearest Bleaders, I am so sorry for the long hiatus between posts!  We have been in the midst of Tour Guide interviews and just plain CRAZINESS here in admissions!  However, I’d love to update you on the two newest happenings in the life of GAL.

1.  WE HAVE TOUR GUIDES!

What I thought would be a relatively…well, I’m not really sure what I thought tour guide hiring process was going to be like.  In the end, it was incredibly time-consuming conducting all the interviews and such, but incredibly rewarding!  We are changing up the program this year and as such added a second part to our interviewing strategy.  All the applicants were asked to take us to their favorite places on campus, and tell us why.  I hiked my sorry booty up, down, and over this campus and I am so grateful for everyone’s time, energy, and creativity in showcasing why they love this place so much.  I fell in love with Sweet Briar again and again and again over the past three weeks, and I thank you all for the beautiful reminder (and we’re hoping in the future to share some of those places with you…stay tuned!!).

In the end, we had some really hard choices to make.  If I could have taken them all, I would have!  However, we could only take a handful, but I am so excited to see what they do and how we move this program forward in the coming year.  I hope you’re able to get on campus to see how fabulous they are!!

2.  ACCEPTED APPLICANT MEET AND GREETS

This past Saturday my colleague, LR, and I meandered down to Roanoke to meet up with some pretty fab students and talk about Sweet Briar.  I had such a great time talking with K and L, and they have the chance to add so much to this place!  We had a great meal, awesome conversation, and more than a few laughs along they way.  As LR put so eloquently (and I’m paraphrasing here), We are so fortunate and grateful to have the chance to be a part of this journey, and we sincerely enjoy working with you.  It was so nice to have a chance to celebrate that, and their acceptances this weekend.  Thanks for the great time, K and L!!

And the Big Changes are…

Last week I referenced some “big changes” going on in our office, and I’m pleased to share the exciting news to you, Faithful Bleaders!  If you are a current student and have a passion for sharing the Sweet Briar news with everyone, there are 11 tour guide positions open for the fall.  And I am proud and excited to be the new Tour Guide Advisor!

For all you prospective students and families out there, this isn’t going to change much for you–you’re still going to get rockin’ tours of campus and one of the best on-campus experiences a girl can get and that you’ve come to expect from Sweet Briar.  What this means for our community is that the conglomerate of tour guides is going to become a more concentrated group of young ladies who, because of their smaller size, will be much more involved (literally in terms of hands on time) with the process.

What that means for us is we have a really neat opportunity to see what has worked, what hasn’t and literally start from scratch.  It also means our Guides are going to have a lot of feedback (and therefore responsibility) to really make this program their own, and really be able to see the fruits of their labor by being an integral part of a student’s decision to enroll here at SBC.

For me, being a tour guide at Sweet Briar was one of the most rewarding positions I held–it was so neat to be able to introduce folks to Sweet Briar, and then down the road see those girls here on campus as vibrant members of our community.  And I love, LOVE, L.O.V.E to tour.  Ask any family who has been out on a tour with me, it’s an experience.  It was the general joke in college that I gave “the three hour tour, the three hour tour (to the tune of Gilligan’s Island)” and even today when we have to give tours to various groups I have to be the first one out because without fail I’m going to be the last one back.  I take my tours seriously, but myself not so seriously  To be able to step up and help mentor these young women is going to be something I’m very proud and honored to do.

I would be very remiss is I didn’t give a big shout out to PKL–she’s done an outstanding job working with our tour guides over the years, and I think she’s given the program a very sound and solid foundation to launch off from.  She’ll still be working with our student assistants, and I’m so excited to have an opportunity to collaborate with her over the next few months as we transition the program.

Want to run out and apply now?  Applications are in the Post Office and our office, and they are due back to us by February 5th.  If you have questions, just let us know!