2008 Woodie Awards
The public lives of Midd tour guides
Katie Washburn
Issue date: 3/7/07 Section: Features
A tour guide, casually walking backwards on the path next to Warner, points to Twilight Hall. "Students always complain about having classes in this brick building," she says with a smile. "They say it's so far away." Several parents laugh, but a student walking near the group turns to the group. "It is, though," he declares before hurrying ahead to his class.
Everyday at ten and two o'clock, large groups of high school students and their families shuffle out of Emma Willard House to see Middlebury College from a student's perspective. These campus tours are intended to bring the College to life and are often cited as making or breaking a student's decision about the school.
Traversing the vast campus, while touting the first-rate academic and extracurricular activities, the task of presenting Middlebury in a one-hour walk can be daunting. The work is made all the more difficult by the wide variety of questions guides field about campus life.
"No one tries to answer questions in a specific way, especially in regards to drugs and alcohol," says Tour Guide Coordinator Jessica Cox '07.
"I have definitely fielded some uncomfortable questions in my time as a tour guide," says Co-Coordinator Amanda Goodwin '07. "I think the key to tackling these situations is to be diplomatic and not feel compelled to share any highly personal information that makes you feel uncomfortable."
The tours are overflowing with facts largely unknown to the real students of the College, except maybe for those who remember their own admissions tours. Like clockwork, the guides note that Parton Health Center used to be a fraternity house, McCullough was once the fitness center and Hepburn was originally yellow as they pass by the campus landmarks. The tours explain why we have Alaskan salmon and that Coffrin was designed by a man named Barnes, hence its shape.
The average tour begins by walking from Emma Willard House to the Center for the Arts, strolling through McCullough Student Center, stopping by a room in Stewart Hall, witnessing the magic of the Mongolian wok in Ross Dining Hall and gazing through the Great Hall's massive window in McCardell Bicentennial Hall. The tour finally loops back in front of Battell Hall and down to the New Library before returning the group to Emma Willard House.
Everyday at ten and two o'clock, large groups of high school students and their families shuffle out of Emma Willard House to see Middlebury College from a student's perspective. These campus tours are intended to bring the College to life and are often cited as making or breaking a student's decision about the school.
Traversing the vast campus, while touting the first-rate academic and extracurricular activities, the task of presenting Middlebury in a one-hour walk can be daunting. The work is made all the more difficult by the wide variety of questions guides field about campus life.
"No one tries to answer questions in a specific way, especially in regards to drugs and alcohol," says Tour Guide Coordinator Jessica Cox '07.
"I have definitely fielded some uncomfortable questions in my time as a tour guide," says Co-Coordinator Amanda Goodwin '07. "I think the key to tackling these situations is to be diplomatic and not feel compelled to share any highly personal information that makes you feel uncomfortable."
The tours are overflowing with facts largely unknown to the real students of the College, except maybe for those who remember their own admissions tours. Like clockwork, the guides note that Parton Health Center used to be a fraternity house, McCullough was once the fitness center and Hepburn was originally yellow as they pass by the campus landmarks. The tours explain why we have Alaskan salmon and that Coffrin was designed by a man named Barnes, hence its shape.
The average tour begins by walking from Emma Willard House to the Center for the Arts, strolling through McCullough Student Center, stopping by a room in Stewart Hall, witnessing the magic of the Mongolian wok in Ross Dining Hall and gazing through the Great Hall's massive window in McCardell Bicentennial Hall. The tour finally loops back in front of Battell Hall and down to the New Library before returning the group to Emma Willard House.
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