Being a campus ambassador has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. It certainly is not for everyone. You need to be enthusiastic, energetic, eloquent, and be able to talk to a group of 20 people for 90 minutes straight. It is an introvert’s nightmare and an extreme extrovert’s dream. Clearly, I am the latter because I really love my job. I chose to stay a campus ambassador, despite having two other jobs on campus, because of a few major reasons that make it worthwhile for me.
1) Networking
As a campus ambassador, you lead campus tours, and staff the Campanile (our clock and bell tower) and Berkeley’s visitor center. I have personally met some seriously impressive Cal alumni at the Campanile. A few weeks back, I met a venture capitalist, a product manager, and an investment banker all in one four-hour shift. They were all Berkeley alumni coming back to visit their alma mater. I ended up having short conversations with all of them, got their LinkedIn profiles, and scheduled a Zoom meeting with the venture capitalist and the product manager.
The venture capitalist gave me some incredible advice. The venture capitalist told me he had actually gone to Berkeley for a PhD in chemistry, transitioned into business management roles for pharmaceutical companies, started his own company that failed, and eventually started the venture capital firm with other partners, which he owns today. I asked him, “Was your education at Berkeley worth it if you don’t use what you got your degree in?”.
The VC told me, “Yes!”. The VC explained to me that despite not using the chemistry concepts he learned during his time at Berkeley. He told me that the life skills he learned from doing his PhD at Berkeley are skills he still uses every day and will use for the rest of his life.
He told me, “Learning is putting a tool in a toolbox. Knowledge is your toolbox. You never know when you’ll use what you learned, but it will certainly come in handy in the future. Whenever a situation arises, you can take out what you’ve learned (your tool) from the knowledge you’ve gained (your toolbox) and apply it to the situation.” The VC told me that the time management, stress management, collaboration, writing and communication, and research skills that he learned and enhanced as a chemistry PhD candidate are things he’ll carry on with him for the rest of his life, and skills he’ll forever be grateful for.
The VC made me realize that everything I learn from every course, interaction, adversity, and moment I have in my life has a purpose and will serve me well in the future. This lesson, despite being minor to him, was groundbreaking to me and changed my mindset on learning. Now, I see everything as a learning experience that teaches you a lesson that you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life. Everything can have meaning if you put meaning into it. If I had not been a campus ambassador, I would not have met the VC, had this conversation, or learned this lesson. I’m grateful for the people I’ve met at this job and the lessons I’ve learned from all of them.
2) Impact
Doing 90 minute campus tours can be really repetitive after you’ve done more than 20 of them. However, the impact I have as a tour guide has not gotten old to me. It is probably one of the most heartwarming and fulfilling experiences I have had the honor of having.
As a tour guide, I have done about 60 campus tours over the past year of being a campus ambassador. We average around 20 people each tour, which means I have likely toured 1,200 prospective students around the Berkeley campus so far. While doing tours, it honestly doesn’t feel like you’re doing much. You’re essentially going over the same content about the same landmarks every tour, while sprinkling your personal experiences along the way. A tour becomes another work shift and it all blends together.
However, I’ve come to realize that while these tours are just a work shift for me, they are a lasting first impression of Berkeley for the visitors. I still find this mind boggling to think about.
Since this past semester started, I have had 2 current Berkeley students approach me while I’m on campus telling me that I was their tour guide and that my tour made them decide to go to Berkeley for undergrad. A family also approached me during a shift in the Campanile telling me that their daughter now goes to Berkeley because of my tour. They also told me that they remember the reasons why I love Berkeley fondly, which I was very happy to hear.
The most impactful moment I had as a tour guide was hearing that one of the new hires for the campus ambassador team applied for the job and chose to attend Berkeley because of the tour I gave her. I heard this from a coworker who was in the hiring crew for this year, and I still have no idea who the new hire is, but just hearing that come from someone else means the world to me. It reminds me that this job is more than any other job. It really impacts people, which is why I hold this position so dearly.
3) Memories
I will treasure the memories I made with my coworkers during my time as a campus ambassador. I have had so much fun joking around with the people I work with, and I genuinely feel that I could be myself during my shifts. I’ve gone on road trips with my coworkers to Big Sur and Santa Cruz this summer with a rental car, which was probably one of the highlights of my Berkeley experience. I have also learned so much about other people’s experiences, especially from my international coworkers and from touring people from around the world.
I’ll always remember doing a tour for an international high school from Taiwan. They told me I was the first American they had ever interacted with, since they had just left the airport and went straight to Berkeley for their tour. The Taiwanese tour group was the most enthusiastic, culturally curious, and fun tour I have ever given. They rolled down 4.0 Hill with me, asked me questions about life in the USA, and even asked to take pictures with me. I will remember these memories for as long as I’m alive.
Being a campus ambassador has been one of the most enriching experiences I’ve done in my life. It is definitely not for everyone, but if you enjoy being a Berkeley student, curious about other cultures and experiences, love meeting interesting people, making a lasting impact on prospective students, and making new friends and memories, then I wholeheartedly recommend becoming a campus ambassador. It is something I will never regret.