Fun Facts from Tour Guide Training

Kyle (left) with previous tour-guide-in-chief and current senior interviewer Hannah.  Blond hair is not a requirement for admission employment.

Last week Kyle (the tour-guide-in-chief, pictured above) and I hosted three successive nights of tour guide training.  After we'd dealt with some of the most pressing issues, like placing orders at the Pita Pit and finding a delivery option for vegan and gluten-free pizza (it exists!  huzzah!), we were free to focus on other important stuff, like the academic content of tours.  One of the more unusual expectations of Mudd tour guides is that they need to be able to discuss all the departments in relative depth.  This isn't a realistic stipulation at most colleges, but remember, there are only seven departments on our campus -- and if we're going to brag about the multidisciplinary education our students receive, then we need to showcase it in our tour guides.

But for first-years who haven't yet taken classes in every single discipline, or for seniors for whom the math Core is just a distant memory, speaking with authority about every single department can be tricky.  So our nine new guides and twenty-one returning guides met with representatives from six of Mudd's seven departments.  This was particularly fun for the first-year students as they got a sneak peek into the "choice labs" that will be offered as electives in Core next fall, but even for experienced guides, there are always new updates.  Here are a few tidbits I picked up:

• The fastest lizards in Mudd's animal physiology labs run at about 5 m/second; that's half as fast as the best Olympic sprinters!
• Women now account for 42% of HMC's Computer Science majors.  This is far and away beyond any other college in the country.  And the fact that it's 42 is pretty nifty too.  (It's worth noting that the Chemistry department has long been more than 50% women -- even back when the college was less than a third female.)
• One of our Clinic projects this year is sponsored by a rival college.  Very entertaining.

Kyle himself is also a poster child for research opportunities at Mudd.  He just declared as a math major a couple of weeks ago (yay math!) but his research has included chemistry with Professor Maloney as a first-year, engineering with Professor Lape as a sophomore, ongoing research in children's literature with Professor Balseiro, and a new position in religious studies with Professor Dyson.  (Yes, that would be three current research positions, plus tour guide intern and at least one other job.)  So if you're wondering about being limited in your research options due to class year or major, I direct you to Kyle.  And if you're concerned about maximizing your opportunities of sushi consumption during your time at Mudd, then you definitely need to talk to Kyle.