By Gary Collins/reporter
Leadership, responsibility and community service are the core values of the NE Student Ambassadors.
Active, helpful and community-oriented students or those who are just looking to earn community service credit while in school can become members of the NE Student Ambassadors.
“We really, really would like for students to know they are all welcome,” Lori Fowler NE Student Ambassadors advisor, said. “We want it to be a diverse club.”
Previously, the Ambassadors served as campus representatives and tour guides.
The NE Student Ambassadors program encourages input from students and reaches out to prospective students.
Currently, they are reorganizing for the upcoming summer semesters and the 2007-08 school year, with a focus on community service activities. Although only a few weeks old, the group has activities scheduled.
“We will be doing tours and have a student information booth during registration and community service events,” Kristopher Guidry, NE Student Ambassadors officer, said. “There are other things in the works during the semester, just not finalized yet.”
Students can join the Ambassadors at anytime during the semester, and all students are eligible to join as a member.
The only restriction is students must have 3.0 GPA to become an officer and must be willing to attend regular meetings.
For members, a steady GPA is not a requirement, but the group has a one-time $15 application fee, which will go toward purchasing club T-shirts, Fowler said.
The Ambassadors look for members who are present on campus, are active and participate in activities.
“We are heavily involved in service learning and high school outreach,” she said.
Recent club activities included a booth at Spring Fest and the child abuse awareness fair and a trip to Handley Elementary School to participate in a forum speaking about college life.
As representatives of TCC and NE Campus, the Ambassadors focus on community service and hosting.
“We try to be all about service,” Fowler said. “When you see an Ambassador, I want the first thing to pop into people’s minds to be service and hosting. We’re all about helping others.”
As future leaders, the Ambassadors also participate in student leadership retreats. These are special activities designed to bring together members of various organizations for a few days a year.
“We plan to take two trips a year. Once each semester students can take a weekend trip hopefully somewhere in the U.S.,” Fowler said.
“I know there’s one in Yosemite National Park and even one in Hawaii. They can learn the rope course, leadership training and even communication skills,” she said.
Students who choose to participate in the Ambassadors can earn valuable resume experience in community service hours, Fowler said.
“It helps when they [students] transfer to a four-year school; they can list all the things that they’ve done,” she said. “Now they are changing the law and will require a certain amount of service learning credit to graduate, so these students will already have done that while participating in a club.”
Guidry said although being in a two-year college is easier than a four-year school in regards to getting around and course planning, the tools learned while in Student Ambassadors will help make transfers much easier.
In the short few weeks since reorganizing, the ambassadors have elected their officers and recruited several new members but are looking for more.
Interested students should contact Fowler at 817-515-6577 or through Campus Cruiser.
