By Sam Chipman, Staff Writer
This year has returned an essential piece of the admission process at Western New England University that was previously suspended during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This key process is none other than Open Houses. The main goal of Open Houses is to show prospective students what the campus atmosphere looks and feels like.
Student Ambassadors are the faces behind the tours that have influenced so many of our current students in making their decision to attend the university. Being a Student Ambassador is not an easy job, it takes responsibility, personability and most of all, a great knowledge of the school’s culture, activities and history.
In an interview with Student Ambassador, Evan Blake, the Junior Civil Engineering student describes an average Open House day: “I wake up at 6:30 a.m. and arrive at the Welcome Center; the Student Ambassadors congregate and enjoy coffee until the families begin to arrive. I will hunt down any engineering students and befriend them before 7:30 a.m. when tours begin.”
From there, campus tours are assigned based on what College they are interested in joining. A prospective student of the College of Arts and Sciences would go on a tour that looks quite different from a tour for the College of Engineering.
Open House tours begin with a panel of Western New England University Faculty, including President Johnson and Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, Bryan Gross. Along with speakers from the faculty, a small group of Student Ambassadors speak upon the different experiences they had entering college, whether it be a first generation student or generational Western New England University student. After the panel, tours of the university itself commence, followed by meetings with the respective Deans of each College and a parent information session.
Open Houses are important to the future students of our University in deciding the right school for them. At Western New England University, the admissions staff along with the Student Ambassadors work very hard and have great enthusiasm in the work they do.
As Evan Blake states, “Open Houses give students the opportunity to step into the shoes of real students that go here. They get to eat where we eat, go where we go and see the people we see. Attending an Open House was a major factor in the deciding process of choosing a school to go to.” Blake said this jovially over a bowl of cereal. Open Houses would not be able to run without our deeply valued Student Ambassadors.
