Today I wanted to talk about my experience running tours for potential applicants of my school. The things that I learned from interacting with people who had all different backgrounds, answering difficult questions, and trying to be open and engaging with people that clearly did not want to be there taught me a lot. My school is a part of a district of 10 schools, and each was running tours at the same time. What this meant is that some kids had already set their mind on one school before coming to our tour, and had only come to my school because their parents forced them. Trying to convince someone to take a chance on something after their mind is already made up is almost impossible. I learned this after my attempts to engage with the children were refuted many times. Though I kept getting rejected, I learned that in order to have a chance at making a difference, one has to keep trying. Of the 12 tours I conducted, 5 of them did not want to be there. Of those 5, I think I successfully convinced 2 of them to open their mind up. Those two kids could go on to do great things at the school, so while 2 out of 5 does not seem great, it was a lot better than 0. Another thing I learned was that while every family that came for tours came from very different backgrounds, the parents all wanted the same thing, the best possible environment for their child. This led to a lot of difficult questions about specific things that pertained specifically to their child. One of the most special tours I witnessed was a Hispanic family that did not know English. Even though the parents could not understand much of the tour, they still had so many questions and tried their best to get over the language barrier to give their child the best possible education. Another special thing about this family’s tour was that their tour guide, after realizing that the family could not understand anything, ended up conducting the tour in Spanish. The adaptability of the tour guide, and the connection that she was able to create with that family was extraordinary, and I am sure they will never forget her.