The Extra-Curricular: GW STAR

This post was written by Peer Advisor Bridger Christian, a Junior in SMPA studying Political Communication.
Thanksgiving is only three weeks away, and I know we’ll all make it!
In this week’s edition of the Extra-Curricular, we’re going to look at a really great organization on campus, GW STAR, or Student Admissions Representatives! These are the people who interact with prospective students by participating in information sessions, hosting students on overnight campus visits, and yes, giving tours.
I was a member of STAR all of my Freshman and half of my Sophomore year at GW, and I have to say, it was a great experience. I only decided to hang up my GW logo polo after I accepted an internship in the US Senate that also required me giving a lot of tours. No matter how much you like giving tours, four times a week is just too much! Even though I don’t participate in the organization anymore, I can still tell you that it is truly a great group of people, and it’s a great way to get to know GW better.
So let’s start from the beginning. Going into college, I always thought it’d be cool to be a tour guide. I visited about 20 colleges across the US throughout high school (and applied to 18!), and I always thought that the tour guide really made a huge difference regarding how I felt about a school. At some schools, I would have high expectations and the tour guide would let me down, and at others I’d be on the fence and the tour guide would sell me on applying.
My tour guide when I visited GW was absolutely great. He was a fellow Montanan from Great Falls, and so we had an instant connection. He really made me feel comfortable leaving a state known for the great outdoors and serenity for the hustle and bustle of a city that, including the metro, has more people than all of Montana!
When I got to GW, I immediately sought out GW STAR. By the second week I was in an information session, and by the end of the first month I had applied to the student organization. I worked through the interview process, in which you are asked to do things like pretend you are describing a major or building to a group of prospective students, I gave my mock tour, and I was off!
I really enjoyed two aspects of the organization more than anything else. The first, of course, was developing incredibly cheesy jokes and trying them out on unknowing students. For example, I always thought it was really funny to stop at the hippo outside Lisner and say “This isn’t a real hippo of course, real hippos live in the same place as people who don’t want to go to GW… Da-Nile!” I always tried to add something new and witty to every tour I gave, and it really made the process tons of fun.
The second thing I loved was just interacting with students. GW is a place that people from all over the world aspire to attend, and thus, you get to meet people from all walks of life. I remember one time I was observing a new tour guide give a tour, and I was able to spend the entire time just talking with this dad of twins from South Carolina. He and I really had a great time, laughed, and in the end, I think I was really able to make him feel more comfortable about the prospect of his students attending GW.

If you do become a tour guide, I’ve got one piece of advice for you: make business cards! I developed my own cards, with my own custom GW STAR logo, and because of that, I was able to hear back from many people who had gone on tours with me. Some told me thanks for the tour, but they’d be attending other colleges or universities, while others told me they were accepting an offer to attend GW and that we should grab coffee sometime! It was great to know that, even if it wasn’t especially consequential, I helped play a role in working people through their college decision.
One other thing that’s fun about being in STAR is that it’s not only about giving tours (though that is the main part). In addition to showing people around campus, you also have the opportunity (not the obligation) to host prospective students on overnight visits in your residence hall. You get a free dinner voucher, and you get to do fun stuff like take them to class, show them around the monuments, and even visit a museum. I only did this once, but it was a great experience, and the person I hosted now lives in the same residence hall as I do!
In addition to all of this, being a member of STAR looks great on your resume. Studies have shown that, outside of holding a leadership position on campus (RA, President of SA, etc.), being a tour guide is one of the best things you can have on your application. It shows you work well with people, that you’ve represented a large institution before, and that you’re energetic and engaged. It also shows you are willing to do a little research and absorb information in order to do you job well.
So if you’re looking for an organization on campus, I recommend giving STAR a close examination. They select new members at the beginning of each semester, so look out for the flyers in the Marvin Center elevators after the Holiday Break! It’s a great way to let your GW passion show, to meet new people, and to help prospective students decide whether or not GW is right for them.