Meet Your Drive-Thru Tour Guide
Nicole Johns ’23 is a rising sophomore from Peabody, Massachusetts, about 20 miles north of Boston. She took some time recently to speak with us about her journey, why she chose Babson, and her experience as a Babson tour guide.
With Johns coming from a small high school, the Babson community aspect felt familiar to her, and she knew why Babson was the right choice.
“Being close to home was one of the reasons I chose Babson, and the community was another reason, it felt like family,” said Johns.
Brimming with Babson Knowledge
During her first year, Johns dove into Babson’s Undergraduate Ambassador Program, where she trained to give live tours to prospective students and their families. Not only was it enjoyable to her, and she was good at it, but she found that it also helped broaden her horizons.
“I meet a lot of people from all different class years. Hearing their stories and hearing about classes they’ve taken, and things they’re interested in, has helped me know if maybe this is something I’d actually be interested in,” she said.
Babson tour guides start out on shadow tours, where they learn the information by following around the official tour guides. Next, they do buddy tours, where they lead the tours themselves—the official tour guide is there only to help fill in the blanks. And, finally, the would-be guides do an evaluation tour all by themselves, with an official tour guide present to assess and evaluate.
Johns became an official tour guide quickly because she did tours twice a week. In the process, she found that the program opened up new opportunities and perspectives.
“Being a tour guide helped me be more confident, because not only do you learn the information, but you actually have to talk about it and really relay it to other people. So, my public speaking skills definitely improved, and it helped me in being able to answer questions on the spot,” said Johns.
She also recently recorded audio for Babson’s first Drive-Thru Campus Tour, where she shared her unique experience and personal perspective to prospective students and their families.
Fall Is Fast Approaching
As Johns nears the end of her summer internship in finance, and prepares to return to campus this fall, she is excited about the upcoming school year, and reflective about her last semester on campus—cut short due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“It’s definitely interesting to go through something like that, but I think Babson did a good job reaching out to us, giving us resources, and making sure all the professors were also doing that,” said Johns.
Keeping a positive attitude comes naturally to the sophomore.
“This semester, I’m going to be on campus, and two of my five classes are online, and then the rest are hybrid classes,” said Johns. “I’m just kind of keeping the mindset that I know it’s definitely going to be different, and you’ve got to make the best of it. I keep a positive attitude—it’s going to work,” she said.
“I’m excited to get back and see my friends, see professors, just kind of be back. I love being home, but I also want to go to campus,” said Johns.
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