For Nate Rosenberg ‘18, college admissions is a family affair. With his mother and sister both having worked in the field, Nate decided that he’d give admissions work a try at Kenyon. By September of his first year, he was working as a student receptionist. Since then, Nate has served in several different roles at the Office of Admissions. Currently, he’s working as a co-head tour guide, which means he supervises and schedules other tour guides as well as being one of the faces of Kenyon to prospective students and their families.
Nate characterizes most of the job as “a walking conversation,” but campus tour guides aren’t just talking heads. Behind the scenes, tour guides employ a variety of abilities in order to make a campus visit the best it can be. “You have to be patient… and show parents that some things they may see as detriments are actually positives,” Nate says. For instance, when a parent brought up a concern about limited opportunities for off-campus projects with professors, Nate responded with a description of Kenyon’s engagement here in Knox County. “I also feel like I’ve gained an appreciation for how an admissions office runs… how to make the day run smoothly.”
Tour guides also need to be quick on their feet, literally and figuratively. Campus tour guides are given ongoing training and a manual, but, as Nate says, “you do need to be able to improvise,” which can make each tour an individualized experience. Parents and prospective students, for example, can raise very different concerns. “Students are usually more interested in the classes, the social scene, and parents are asking questions like, ‘What is safety like on campus?’”
This spring, Nate’s duties as co-head tour guide will include organizing aspects of events like Thumbs-Up visit days, which pair current Kenyon students with prospective students to experience a day of typical campus life. Because these events require volunteers, the Office of Admissions reaches out to potential student hosts through emails. The best way to engage with the Kenyon community, Nate says, is to make this outreach fun. “Everyone is so willing to step up… we just try to jazz it up a little bit. A lot of students here want to recreate their experience for others.” Being a host for a prospective student, Nate advises, is a great way to become familiar with the Office of Admissions for those seeking student employment there in the future.
The Office of Admissions looks for a diverse set of skills when hiring guides for campus tours or for specialized Fine Arts, KAC, and Science Quad tours. Although applicants don’t need to be Kenyon experts, they should be ready to learn on the job. Above all, tour guides should be good public speakers. For this reason, the Office of Admissions uses group interviews to identify students who would be a good fit. “Being at Admissions has made me a more confident speaker,” Nate says. “Having that experience makes you better in class, and it has given me real-world experience.”
Each student’s unique Kenyon experience is important to the Office of Admissions. “We want to make sure that prospective students have someone on an information session panel they can relate to, but who also can represent a wide range of experiences,” says Nate. “We look for students who are open-minded… who love hearing other people’s stories, connecting with prospective students, and sharing their Kenyon experience with others.” Luckily for the Office of Admissions, Nate says, that kind of person isn’t hard to find at Kenyon.
Now, as he approaches graduation, Nate is looking forward to beginning a career in college admissions. For those wishing to start on the same college employment path that Nate took by becoming a campus tour guide, the Office of Admissions is currently hiring for Senior Admissions Fellows. The deadline to apply for this position is February 18, and the application can be accessed through Symplicity.
By Amelia Yeager ‘20