Being a Summer Recruitment Ambassador has been incredibly fulfilling. Not only in impacting prospective students, but also in making memories in my time at the College.

Leading up to summer, Harvard students look through different disciplines, departments, and universities for summer opportunities that align with their interests. Many students look within Harvard itself, including myself, however, the Admissions & Financial Aid offices did not come to mind.

After hearing about the Summer Recruitment Ambassador position at the offices, I jumped to apply. I knew I'd want to make an impact on students in College admissions, financial aid, and student life, but, I was not prepared for the impact that this position would have on me.

Day by day, students from all across the world walked into Agassiz House awaiting a learning experience about a college that had become all too familiar to me. Sharing my experiences as a Harvard student with these prospective students allowed me to truly reflect on my time at the college. It made me reconnect with my beginnings here at Harvard, thinking about the first time I walked into the gates of Harvard Yard (as our tour participants do at our first tour stop). 

This reflection ultimately made me a better Summer Recruitment Ambassador. Thinking back to my experiences while at Harvard so far allowed me to relay different aspects of student life to prospective students, in ways that they could relate to. Using my "Why Harvard" story on tours to acknowledge the fears and worries I had about attending a school like Harvard, comforted students in knowing that their feelings were valid.

I left every tour and info session hoping that students left Harvard College with better perceptions than those they had come with, and also with courage that they too could attend Harvard and succeed here.

Not only was being a Summer Recruitment Ambassador impactful on prospective students, this role was also impactful on me, too.

I walked into the first day of SRA training, joined by the other 12 SRAs, unaware of the adventures we would have together. I knew a few people from this cohort, but far less than I would grow to know them by the end of the summer. 

All 13 of us SRAs came from different backgrounds, studied different concentrations, participated in different extracurriculars, and had different career goals, but somehow all formed connections with each other. We all had different purposes of joining the SRA team but with a common goal of humanizing Harvard for prospective students by using our experiences. 

This summer, I've had the joy of learning from each SRA; about their hometowns, friends, interests, and random opinions. Throughout the summer, each of us SRAs have taken tidbits from each other's tours and implemented them into our own, creating a mosaic of all of the SRAs within one tour. It's truly a beautiful thing that people from different places across our campus have come together this summer in order to impact students on an incredible level!

Being an SRA not only allowed me to impact others, but for others to impact me.