futur HIDDEN HEROES es� Felicity Tropman:
student ambassador Are you enjoying working at the University?
I absolutely love it! Recently a group of us have been helping tutor GCSE students, and it was lovely to pass on my personal exam tricks. The University Days are always good fun as well; you never can predict what the children will say, so sometimes you end up laughing along with them. The wonderful thing about the student ambassador programme is that you always expect the unexpected; no two shifts are the same, and there are always new and often quite interesting questions to be answered.
Do you feel like you make a significant change or contribution in your role? If it wasn’t for the people working behind the scenes and planning all of these events the student ambassadors wouldn’t be able to make a difference. They work tirelessly to make sure the day runs smoothly for everyone involved, and if that happens to be an Open Day that means looking after staff and the public – that is a lot of people! I think all the student ambassadors make a difference to each shift they work – a lot of them have big commitments to University (e.g. assignments, exams and placement) but still give up their time to help out. Their knowledge base is fantastic as well – it is amazing to hear just how much the ambassadors know about the University and University life.
Do you ever get called anything apart from ‘student ambassador’?
Even though our title is ‘student ambassador’ but we often evolve into tutors, assistants, guides, spokespeople, even ‘Sir’ or ‘Miss’ from time to time! The best name I’ve had so far is ‘Oi, you in the green’. The ambassadors aren’t just representing the University; they help visitors in as many ways as possible, be it showing them around or helping the staff in the LRC. They even visit other schools to introduce and encourage the idea of going to university.
How long have you been working in this role? I have been an ambassador since the beginning of my first year, so about eighteen months so far.
What are the perks of the job? There are many! Primarily the flexibility of the hours; you don’t have to do a set number of hours every
week; you just work when you can. The organisers make sure we only work if we are genuinely free; they insist that our studies come first. The working hours are nice, some days you might only be working for an hour, other days up to six. If you have a lecture you can work half a shift before or after it. The people you work with are lovely as well – the people presenting the event, the other ambassadors, the teachers, the students, the prospective students, they are all a joy to work with. Obviously you get a few characters, but you have to be kept on your toes sometimes!
What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had on the job? I haven’t had any weird experiences as such, but I have been involved in some strange conversations. Many students think we live in the flats we show, and sometimes when in the LRC the University students take the ‘Ask me!’ logo on our t-shirts too seriously; unfortunately I don’t know that much about the library! f�
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