What I've gained as a Student Ambassador

This article was written by Dance & Choreography BA(Hons) student Kaitlyn.

I have gained so much during my time as a Student Ambassador. From new skills, to experiences that will help me in my future career and lasting friendships. As an ambassador, I have been provided with so many opportunities and I will talk about a few of them now.

First, the skills I’ve gained. In every job I have gained some new skills and developed those I already had. As an ambassador, I have participated in so many different roles such as providing tours, assisting with talks and helping with campus visits. These all require different skills, some of which I didn’t have or struggled with before becoming an ambassador. The skills I have gained include leadership, organisation, communication (especially with different age groups) and teamwork skills. These have helped not only within the jobs but also in my classes with group work and volunteering.

Another big part of being an ambassador is the confidence I have gained. As a disabled student I have found I often struggle with my confidence, especially in new situations. Being an ambassador has helped me a lot with this by providing a variety of roles for me to gain confidence in, and working with amazing teams; not only staff running the scheme but other ambassadors. Our Senior Ambassadors are always extremely friendly and helpful running the different roles and helping settle everyone into groups.

Talking of the other great ambassadors, being in the role lets you meet so many other people in the same school as you. which means you meet many more friends and people to collaborate with. Being able to meet new people, when I am more of a quiet person who keeps to myself, has been great for me to meet new friends that I talk to on a regular basis and go to the beach with. It also makes the job fun and a slightly relaxed environment for me, rather then stressful or boring. I have gained many friends and increased my social skills a lot while working with ambassadors which has made me happier at University and being in a new environment less unsettling.

Another great thing about being an ambassador are the different roles you can do. The main role that everyone does to start with is a Junior Ambassador. This is basically the standard ambassador working Open Days and getting involved with a lot on campus. There are also Senior Ambassadors, who lead the groups of juniors and are your first contact on shifts. There is at least one in every group, so everyone has someone if needed. They are also great people who make everyone feel comfortable which is an amazing bonus. Another role I know about is Digital Ambassadors. This is where you can talk to people on the 'Ask Our Community' platform answering questions from incoming students or those looking into Universities. There is normally one or more for each course and you also do things like writing blogs. The final role I know about is the Equity Ambassadors. In this role I work with schools, helping with school campus visits, running events for school aged groups and going into schools to help with sessions or events. It’s great fun and has helped me gain loads of experience that is going to help me with future jobs.