It is a truth universally acknowledged that a college student, in possession of inadequate funding to maintain their ideal lifestyle, must be in want of a job. Thank you Jane Austen for the timeless verbal irony, but in all seriousness, most college students, myself included, agree upon the necessity of holding a part-time job. In my completely unbiased opinion, there is one perfect job on the Berkeley campus: campus ambassador.
Let’s start with what it means to be a campus ambassador. We work in the Campanile, overseeing visitors as they go up to the top and experience the beautiful bird’s-eye view of campus. We work in the visitor center, greeting anyone who stops in on their Berkeley visit. And of course, we give tours! In addition to all of that, we work big campus events like Cal Day and Homecoming and do social media for the school and a variety of other exciting tasks.
When I was considering applying to the job, my biggest concern was the time commitment. Well, that, along with the stress and pressure that comes with being responsible for knowing every single fact and fun fact there is to know about the school, or so I thought. One year ago, I had to overcome my doubts to apply and now here I am a year later, compelled to write about how wonderful this job is.
We can start with my original concern, the time commitment. There is a time commitment, like any proper job would have, but it is very fair and easy to balance with coursework and other extracurriculars. You can put in as many hours of availability as you want, depending on what your schedule is like for the semester, with a minimum requirement of ten. And if ten sounds like a lot, don’t worry. On average, you likely won’t work all of those 10 hours every week. Plus, if you ever do need to take a break from a shift, you can put in a sub request and with the amount of incredible coworkers we have, someone is bound to pick up your shift for you. All the campus ambassadors have a ton of commitments they balance with the job, and the nature of this job is very understanding of this.
Next, let’s address the memorization of facts. It started off as a stressful hurdle to overcome, but honestly this is one of the coolest aspects of the job. How many other people can walk around and tell you that the awesome Tyrannosaurus rex in the Valley Life Sciences Building is named Osborn and has a flying pteranodon friend next to him named Marsh? Or that the carillon at the top of the Campanile has 61 bells, and it is played by actual Berkeley students three times a day? Personally, I love being the resident Berkeley fun fact expert amongst my friends. So yes, you do need to learn some facts, but the efforts are very worthwhile. Plus, learning the facts isn’t that difficult because you aren’t expected to know everything there is to know about Berkeley; the most exciting and relevant facts will stick with you naturally. I don’t recall sitting and memorizing much; I just ended up committing a lot to memory through our efficient training process and then subsequently listening to my coworkers give tours.
Lastly, I need to talk about my number one favorite thing about this job: the community. Most of the time when I’m working, it doesn’t even feel like work because I’m just spending time with other wonderful campus ambassadors. Each and every campus ambassador brings something unique to the table and I am constantly inspired by them. As I mentioned before, every ambassador is involved with a number of other extracurriculars beyond this job. Yet, each person still makes the time to not just be a passionate tour guide, but also be a great friend and part of the community. I spent this past summer in Berkeley, working longer hours than feasible during the semester, with the other ambassadors that were here. Even though I couldn’t be home, the summer was so much fun because I got to spend more time with the campus ambassador community. They help make Berkeley feel like a second home and I’m so grateful we could all get so close in the summer. So the way I see it, this job is just me getting paid to hang out with my friends which seems like a win-win to me.
Being a campus ambassador is a really fulfilling job. I love Berkeley and I love getting to share that love with visitors. At risk of sounding self-important, I have to say it is such a special feeling to know that what you are doing can actually make a difference for prospective students. I’ve had visitors come up to me after my tour to tell me that my excitement for the school has made this become their dream school. I’ve even had admitted students tell me they’re ready to commit to attending Berkeley after hearing my Berkeley experience. It is moments like that which remind me of why I joined this job in the first place.
I joined this job for the visitors, and then completely fell in love with it because of the community of wonderful campus ambassadors I’ve befriended. It truly is a unique job that makes me feel even more lucky to be a Berkeley student. To conclude with another spin on a line from Pride and Prejudice, I declare after all that there is no enjoyment like being a campus ambassador!