Nearly 200 students try out for the University Guide Service each September, but only 25 receive invitations to join the organization. Each vying for a place in one of the most selective groups on Grounds, prospective U-Guides must complete a highly competitive tryout process.
The two-week tryout process consist of two phases: a 15-minute trial tour of the Lawn and of the University's history and an interview. Students must be able to dedicate at least three semesters to the organization, meaning that the latest a student can try out is in the second semester of his third year.
To organize and design their 15-minute trial tours, students are encouraged to take a historical tour of the University delivered by a current U-Guide. An impressive tour, the U-Guide Web site states, will relay the required information "in a creative and innovative way, utilizing a theme and your own personality."
UGS Outreach Chair Jeffrey Webb said he looks for students to connect the information into some coherent story, rather than simply reiterate the historical facts.
"The University has entirely too much history to include it all in a 15-minute presentation and so if a student can pick particular parts of the University's history and weave it together in some sort of narrative where the information flows, then that really showcases not only their ability, but also their personality and their creativity," he said.
Students should also focus on letting their personalities show and allow themselves to connect with the audience, UGS Chair Michaela Ottenberg said.
"It's very easy to fall into the trap of being really serious when you give your trial tour," she said.
Still, the first objective of a historical tour is to accurately deliver information. The wealth of facts that prospective U-Guides are required to learn is given to them in the form of a UGS fact sheet, which is distributed at the organization's four information sessions held during the first two weeks of September. Additionally, students are also judged on punctuality, appropriate business casual attire, organization, enthusiasm, whether they include extra information not on the fact sheet, mechanics and delivery and adaptability - how well they could adjust their tour to unexpected circumstances and distractions, such as weather and construction.
Webb noted that the trial tours may be more challenging for first-year students in their first semester because they tend not to be as personally familiar with the University as second- or third-year students and they may find it difficult to effectively convey the institution's history to others. He recommended that first-year prospective U-Guides observe as many tours as possible of current members before delivering their trial tour.
"One of the most important things a potential guide can do is to attend many tours of current guides because each guide has a different approach that a potential guide can pick up - different stories, means of presentation, and public speaking tips," he said.
The organization encourages students to also practice delivering tours to their friends to gain feedback and improve their 15-minute trial tour. Practicing the trial tour should not be underestimated, Ottenberg said.
"It's important to practice giving tours multiple times because there's a big disparity between knowing and studying the information and actually presenting it," Ottenberg said. "The week before trials, you'll see plenty of people out at the Lawn practicing with others."
Small mistakes, such as failing to include every piece of historical information on the fact sheet does not hinder one's chances of making it to the next round. During her trial tour, Ottenberg said she forgot to include that the majority of the Pavilions were modeled after Greek and Roman temples and was certain she would not make it to the second phase of the process because of the mistake.
Webb also recalled an embarrassing start to his trial tour.
"I slipped on one of the Lawn terraces directly before I began the presentation and got my entire back really muddy," he said. "The tour guides that were evaluating me were very embarrassed for me, but somehow, I managed to recover."
The 60 students who conduct the trial tours most successfully are invited to the interview stage.
A panel asks them a number of situational and creative questions, as well as a question they are given in advance to prepare for beforehand. Situational questions resemble questions that guides are commonly asked on historical and admissions tours each day, Ottenberg said. Potential guides are expected to answer diplomatically.
Creative questions include, "What would you replace the Homer Statue with?" and "What board game best describes you?"
The prepared question - "Why do you want to join UGS and what can you bring to the organization?" - must be answered in five minutes or less. Students can approach the question in a variety of ways, none of which are incorrect. In the past, students have demonstrated their creativity by prerecording songs or dancing for the selection panel, UGS Probationary Chair Caryn Just said.
"A lot of people also speak from the heart, which also really means a lot to us," she said. "I feel that there have been a wide range of answers that have been great in a lot of different ways."
She noted that one should not prepare for the interview as he would the trial tour. The interview is about personality and being oneself, she said.
"People might assume UGS wants certain types of people, but we want a variety of experiences and outlooks on life, so the student does a favor to themselves by allowing themselves to be comfortable with who they are in the interview," Webb said.
The interview is evaluated in similar fashion to the trial tour. Students are judged on mechanics, such as speaking ability and the ability to address a group, as well as diplomacy and creativity.
The 35 remaining students who fail to make it past the interview should take the opportunity to try out again the following semester, Ottenberg said, adding that most of the group's strongest guides actually have tried out more than once.
"Not everyone makes it no matter how many times they try, but there's certainly nothing that UGS holds against trying out more than once - it's highly encouraged," Webb said. "There is an old clich
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