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Sabeen Kaka
Senior, Psychology
USF ambassador
Before setting off on a 90-minute tour of campus, Sabeen Kaka always asks those in her group to let her know if she’s about to run into something. After all, while Kaka may glance behind her occasionally, she spends most of her time walking backwards as she guides prospective students and their parents around all of USF’s main sites, from Lone Mountain to the residence halls to Koret Health and Recreation Center to St. Ignatius Church. “Obviously you don’t walk down the stairs backwards because that’s just asking to get hurt,” she says. Throughout, Kaka gives an overview of USF, from the number of student clubs to the university’s history.
In addition to leading campus tours, Kaka also helps with other admission programs, such as open houses for prospective students, online chat sessions with admitted students, and a shadow program in which admitted students attend class with an ambassador. In all those interactions, Kaka serves as a connection to USF. “I had one girl at the open house ask for my Facebook profile. She said, ‘I want to be friends with you,’ so that was pretty cool.”
Tour Highlights: Without a doubt, Kaka says, the residence halls and the cafeteria are the most popular stops on the tour. Both students and parents like to learn about things such as quiet hours, guest policies, food options, and Kaka’s thoughts on them. “I always try to fill my tours with personal experiences because it really shows you’re into the school, you’ve had experiences here and you’re not just a robot. I’ll tell them about how I lofted my bed up in the dorms and fell off (the bed)—twice.”
Speaking Up: “When I was a new tour guide, everything that came up was something I’d never expected. I was terrified,” says Kaka. “I signed up for this because I knew I could do it, but I would get butterflies every time a tour came up.” Now, there’s rarely a question she hasn’t heard and she welcomes all of them. “I hate having a silent tour. It’s really hard when no one asks any questions and they’re just staring at you and they’re silent. I think, ‘I couldn’t possibly have answered every single question you could possibly think of.’” If she doesn’t get a chance to share all her campus knowledge with her tours, there’s always family and friends. “They’re like, ‘OK, you’re not giving a tour. You can stop.’”
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