Giulianna Marchese a sophomore Dramaturgy major from West Virginia, started as an Andrew Ambassador freshman year. What initially got her interested in being an ambassador? “I saw the tour groups around campus, and I had wanted to be giving tours for a while because I thought I would be good at it and I thought it would be fun.” So what got her started? “ I had been asking around and my friend Becca gave us the email for the person in charge. I went in for interview and discovered it was an entire job.”
As Giulianna talks about the job and her role, it is clear to see the passion and excitement she still has about it. “I enjoy the whole job…talking to prospective students (and) bragging about the school. I started when I was a freshman and I saw CMU through rose-colored glasses and was very excited to be a part of it.”
So what exactly are Andrew Ambassadors? “We answer emails or call students who have visited to say hi and see if they have any questions. We also do general organizational stuff and office work. There are various odd jobs that happen in the office”. And her favorite part? “The greatest thing is the tour giving” she says, matter of factly.
So what is Giulianna’s favorite spot on the tour? “There is one stop where I talk about my 3 favorite things about CMU. The fence, Randy Pausch and the school of drama.” Giulianna likes talking about the school of drama because she is “one of the only people who talk about school of drama and actually understand what they are talking about because (she is) a part of it.” Why the fence? “The fence’s history is so quirky and interesting”. However, it is her interest in Randy Pausch that really stands out. “Randy Pausch is the reason I discovered CMU. My teacher showed us his speech in class and then I started seeing Carnegie Mellon everywhere…I find his story very personally inspirational.” Giulianna then reveals how she was waitlisted “He didn’t get in at his first try and I did not get in the first try so I relate with him.”
I ask her if she is alright with me adding that in the article and I get confident ‘YES’ in response. “Me getting waitlisted made me feel that I was not competitive and was not going to be the smartest person so that helped me know that this is where I wanted to be, because that is the place we want to be.”
Going back to the tour, does she ever take the prospective students to different places she likes or add additional stuff? “Sometimes I add additional information in the spur of the moment, like to make the tour feel more conversational and not scripted. I want to make it personalized for every group. Information will just pop into my head and I will talk about it but we do have set information we have to give.”
And what is the best part, or most memorable part of the job? “It is always great when students come for admitted students weekend or come to school and they find you and remember you and (that) you were their tour guide. That feeling that they want to come here and have that experience and you left some impression on them to make them want to have that experience is a really cool feeling”.
So the next time you see a tour going by, and you see this enthusiastic dramaturge, don’t forget to wave or say ‘hi’.