Our typical tour route, the one ingrained in the mind of all campus ambassadors, starts at the Koret Visitor Center and ends at the ASUC Student Union. We associate important content with specific locations: talk about Housing and Dining at this semicircle, explain Academics by this bench. But not all tours follow this familiar route. On our major event days, such as Cal Day, we tend to start at the Campanile bell tower. Some school group tours begin on Sproul Plaza. Sports tailgates or other happenings might force us to detour from Memorial Glade. In short, there’s no way to map out every tour in advance. But I’ve grown to like that.
I’ve never been the best at adapting. Since I was a kid, I’ve struggled with change; I prefer to stick to set routines. When I changed my major, I floundered trying to figure out what direction I wanted to go in. When things go wrong, I tend to blame myself for not planning ahead. But as I’ve made my way through my college years, I’ve grown more at peace with the disruptions. Nothing will go according to plan, because nothing ever does. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. All the spontaneous moments have contributed to my Berkeley journey.
There’s a kind of intuition you build up the more you do something. You know yourself better, and you’re more certain in what you want. I used to reread my script every time before a tour. Now, I know the words by heart. I’ve gotten to the point where I can come up with content wherever I am, even if I’m taking an alternate pathway.
For instance, my first tour back after summer break was a GameDay tour. On those days, the Koret Visitor Center is closed, so we start at the Campanile. I only had a vague idea of the route, but I started the tour off as usual, talking about Berkeley history. I pointed out South Hall, the first building built on our campus in 1873, and I told my group about the tiny bear statue above the doorway. That isn’t something I show visitors on my usual route.
We went up 4.0 Hill past the Pappy statue, and then we headed back down the other side. On normal tours, I only pass the hill once. In the past, I would’ve been stuck in my location-based memory: “I already talked about 4.0 Hill, so what do I say when I pass by again?” But because of summer break, my mental muscles had loosened, so I wasn’t as strict about following my script. When going around again, I simply talked about different topics (Strawberry Creek and our Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program).
Another thing I found was that I talked slower because I had to think more about what to say. Rather than spitfiring information, I let myself treat the tour like a conversation. It’s inevitable that I’ll leave out some info. I can’t capture everything about Berkeley in 90 minutes. So it’s up to the visitors to ask me questions most relevant to them. It’s not up to me to share everything. I realized this because I reflected on how I like information presented to me. When professors talk too fast and then stop for questions, I never have any ready; my brain is too caught up trying to process what they’ve said. If they talk more slowly and deliberately, I have mental room to comprehend the class content.
The real value of alternate tour routes is this: they break you out of your pre-existing mental structures. They allow you to think in new, out-of-the-box ways. I ended up talking more about my personal college experiences to fill the walking gaps. I went to new parts of campus that I’d never taken visitors to before. It’s kind of like when you take a new route to class: you get to experience much more of the wonder and beauty that Berkeley holds. And new routes mean new opportunities! There was a sports tailgate on Memorial Glade that day, so after the tour, my fellow tour guide and I went to get free jerseys from Cal Athletics.
So if you’re a new campus ambassador, or if you’re ever showing people around Berkeley, don’t fear the deviations. I got the chance to do this again for another GameDay, and then for our 1-hour tours on College Information Day. Although it was pouring rain, I managed to navigate my group into mostly covered areas when possible. I think it made the tour more fun because we were working together to escape the rain, and they appreciated that I had their comfort in mind. Another super fun tour I gave was on an event day when we only had 2 people sign up for a tour. They were adults who had just moved to Berkeley, rather than prospective students, so I focused my tour on history and landmarks. At the end, I walked them down Telegraph Avenue to point out my favorite restaurants. It felt much more personal and tailored.
I honestly think the same mindset applies to the Berkeley student experience. A lot of us come in with the same mindset: do well in classes, graduate in 4 years, and get your degree. But along the way, we meet new people or find new places that show us something new. We find alternate routes and carve our own pathway.