With campus tours running around the clock at Auburn, it's not uncommon to pass by a cheery student recruiter and yell a passionate, "War Eagle!" Many Auburn students admit to this and more, making campus tours much more interesting than they may seem to be from the outside.
Jack Self, junior in business analytics, talks about why he became a student recruiter.
“I just wanted to give back to Auburn. I had loved it all throughout my freshman year, so to be able to show people that I love it was something that I really wanted to do,” said Self.
However, some tours do not go exactly as planned. Auburn students passing by, young tourists and residents of Auburn all keep the jobs of student recruiters interesting.
“There was one time I was at Langdon talking about why you shouldn’t step on the seal, and there was some random person that just walked over the seal and yelled, ‘Roll Tide’ and kept walking,” Self said.
Non-Auburn fans do not know how to react when touring Auburn’s campus.
“One time I was on a tour and this guy came in in all Georgia stuff and after every single thing I said, he compared Auburn to UGA,” said Campbell Morgan, a senior in apparel merchandising.
Sometimes, the situation arises from an overly-curious parent. “There was one mom who asked me basically every single tree we passed by what kind of tree it was,” said Self.
Other times, getting pictures for Instagram is much more important than the tour itself.
“There was one girl like my second week of going on tours, she took pictures in front of every single building, of her just trying to look as good as she could, even in front of like the Haley Center and the buildings that were under construction,” said Self.
According to Juan Contreras, a junior in biomedical sciences, his favorite campus tour moment featured a hungry tourist and a nearby McDonalds.
“I had a golf cart tour one time, and they were insisting on going to McDonalds,” said Contreras.
When asked if the constant "War Eagles" around campus during tours are planned, Self explained that it's mostly by chance.
“No, they’re never planned. The majority of the time, it’s people that I know, but the best ones are always just like random people that will say "War Eagle" to us, especially when it’s professors that walk by, too," said Self.
There is much more to Auburn campus tours than one can see. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes, and student recruiters serve the school by giving their time and energy to invest in future Auburn students. Student recruiters live out the, “I believe in Auburn and love it,” mentioned in the Creed. Next time a campus tour comes by, help out Auburn's student recruiters by yelling out a "War Eagle!" to welcome in the new additions to the Auburn family.
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