As a junior, soon to be senior, I enjoy walking around the University, especially during early fall and spring, and appreciating the campus. It makes me remember what I really loved about this school in the first place; nice weather, lots of people outside and, of course, the lady stags.
However, something that occurred to me this year is that I completely forget what I was thinking when I decided to come to Fairfield University. I watch the tours go by during these months and wonder what those prospective freshmen are thinking about this school and more importantly, what are those tour guides telling them? I wanted to find out by going on a tour without anyone knowing that I was already a student. That way I could get an unbiased look at what tour guides tell high school students about Fairfield and, personally, I really wanted to remember what it was like to be on a tour.
2:10: I stroll up to Bellarmine a few minutes early for my tour. It’s somewhat bizarre that this is the first place they have prospective students see and this is only the third time I’ve ever been to this building.
2:19: We’re rolling and on our way to the chapel, who knew it was called the Egan Chapel? Not this guy. I remember walking into the chapel was one of the highlights of my original tour because of how peaceful and good looking it is. The guides tell us that some alumni got married here a few years ago. I wanted to ask if Sodexho was in charge of catering the event.
2:24: First fun fact of the day! Eighty percent of the school is Roman Catholic.
2:26: We’re making our ascent to the library. For the record, both of these tour guides are freshmen and couldn’t be doing a better job. In all honesty, before this tour I always thought that the idea of having freshman tour guides made no sense, because there’s no way that they could have a good enough sense of the school. Both of these guides are totally comfortable with themselves, the parents and the information they’re giving.
2:40: At this point we’re standing in the lobby of Bannow for a few minutes. Between the two tour guides they’re able to name all 20 core classes prompting them both to say that they liked the core. Meanwhile, one of the fathers in the group looks absolutely mortified about the amount of core classes; Villanova here we come!
2:46: We’re on our way to the RecPlex as one of the guides remarks that “you just swipe in with your Stag Card to get in.” This reminded me of the first time I heard the term Stag Card and remembered being willing to bet up to $500 that I would never get used to saying that; it took me roughly a day and a half to get used to.
2:55: As we walk through the Campus Center the female guide tells the group that “Fairfield gets free HBO…Sopranos!” Everyone in the group whose last name ends with a vowel just started giving chest bumps and high-fives.
3:00: As we move up to Barone the guides start giving us the low-down on food at Fairfield and mention that neither of them have a problem with it. As they’re bringing us into the Stag a student walks by and says “the food stinks.”
3:06: We spend some time walking around the cafeteria and eventually make our way across campus to Regis Hall. I forgot what freshman year smelled like; I think it’s a deadly combination of stale beer, guys who haven’t figured out how to properly shower yet and some kind of dead animal.
3:09: We enter a dorm room that’s nicer than my townhouse. It’s complete with a leather couch and a spotless floor. I really hope that the school is paying these kids to keep their rooms this clean for tour groups to go through.
3:25: We’re back and the guides are saying their final goodbyes. No questions about partying or alcohol were asked by the group, but other than that I couldn’t have been more satisfied with the tour. The guides had a lot of positive things to say and they answered every question honestly and accurately (from one student to another).
I sat down later and thought about the tour and the school and had the same thought that I did when I was a senior in high school; I think I might like to go here.
Leave a Reply