The first thing I heard as I walked into the Triton Center on my first day at my first on-campus job: “Welcome to the best job on campus!” I was a bit thrown off by that bold claim. Could this really be the best job on campus? Am I going to be happy here, am I going to be accepted here, am I going to find fulfillment outside of what I’m learning in class? Three weeks later, and the answer to all of these questions is: absolutely, without a doubt in my mind, YES.
I am about halfway through my sophomore year of college, and I am finally realizing now more than ever that being happy while going to your classes, job, or internship is so so important. If you enjoy what you are doing, it will make going to your job/class feel less like a “have to” and more like a “want to.” This is how I feel every Tuesday and Thursday as I make my way to the center of campus for my College Ambassador training (even though it’s at 9am). You may have seen students in navy polo shirts walking around campus with a group of people behind them giving cool facts about UCSD. These are the College Ambassadors (CAs), and they give tours to prospective and admitted students, as well as answer any questions high schoolers or middle schoolers may have about college. They are the first faces prospective students see when they walk onto our campus, and serve as “eye candy” for our university. This is now what I am a part of, and I could not be happier.
To become a College Ambassador, we have to go through nine weeks of training where we learn all about the structure, academics, fun events, and fun facts about UCSD. We also learn how to answer tough questions from students/parents and how to deal with awkward situations on our tours. All through this process, we observe tours and do buddy tours as well. After training, we give an evaluation tour and are now certified as a College Ambassador (and bonus…we get our own polo and name tag!) Through this training process, my small training group of seven other CAs-to-be, along with our Senior CA who is teaching us, have grown so close we have a kind of familial bond. We have inside jokes and constant laughter, while at the same time we learn what we need to and support each other in this learning. Going through this training process, even though it is only halfway done, has been one of the best experiences I’ve had in college to date. I love UCSD and I love sharing with others about what I love, so I can’t wait to give tours to prospective students and tell them about how much they’ll love UCSD. To be able to share this passion for being a College Ambassador with seven other students is amazing, and is I think one of the main reasons why our group as become a family. So that smiling, encouraging face who greeted me on my first day of work was right – this seriously is the best job I could have asked for during my time here and I’m the happiest I’ve been in a while.