First Open House
As a Hokie Ambassador, part of my responsibilities is to volunteer at one of the many Open House or New Student events that the university holds throughout the year. These events are run like our normal tours, except we are expected to do multiple tours in one day, and there are usually much larger tour groups. On one of my first Open Houses I was giving my tour like usual to a decent-sized group, and I thought things were going okay. When people laugh at my jokes and ask questions I know they are engaged in the tour, but neither of those things were happening. Many people were leaving to go to other meetings in the middle of my tour, which gave me the sense I was not doing too well. I usually start and end my tours at Burruss Hall, but because there were only two families left by the time I got to the Pylons, I finished up the tour there so they would be closer to the bookstore and downtown Blacksburg.
One of the families, a girl and her mom, stayed behind to ask me some questions about the school that were a bit more personal. She explained her family was just her and her mom, and she was on the fence about going to Tech compared to another school due to the costs, and wanted to get more information and my opinions about what to do. The three of us spoke for at least an hour talking about the school, financial aid, majors, and other things that we usually don’t cover on our tours. I did all I could to answer their questions while making them feel comfortable with the school and the decisions involved with going to college. By the end of our conversation, they were no longer stressed about choosing a college, and left happily to eat somewhere downtown.
That interaction made that whole tour worthwhile to me, and really highlighted the good Hokie Ambassadors can do by giving tours. Speaking with her and her mom for such a long time and seeing their anxiety turn into comfort for Virginia Tech made me realize the change I made. Here is where I learned that the change a leader enacts does not have to effect everyone; a leader can do a lot of good helping only one person. I had always been focused on creating change for a group of people, to try and do the most good for the most people, but sometimes, that isn’t always possible. There is still a victory to be had in helping just one person.
While us tour guides try to appeal to an entire group to convince them to come to our school, we understand that not everyone will want to come. Even so, we try to convince as many people as we can, because our efforts might make the difference to someone on the fence with their decision. Change happens in increments, especially when discussing individuals.
I use this event as an example that no action is too small to justify. My efforts do not always go unnoticed, and can create an impact on at least one person. I continue my little actions to make someone’s day better or to improve my own well-being, and those little changes can lead to big results. As I move on to continue giving tours in grad school I am going to keep helping visitors in anyway I can – as that might be the difference between them going to Tech or not.
Joe Downey's Leadership Blog 