LA CROSSE, WI (WXOW)— Being a Vanguard is an important job, showing prospective students around and helping them decide if it's a good fit for them.
The UW-La Crosse Vanguards are a group of students who give campus tours to prospective students.
Vanguards are chosen through an application process.
They must be outgoing, have great communication skills and be good students.
Liz Rosendale said when she first became a Vanguard she was in awe of all the facts people knew.
But, now she has them down now too.
"When they gave me the little packet of information I just read it and was so enamored by all the information that it all soaked in," Rosendale said.
The most difficult part of being a Vanguard wasn't memorizing all of the facts, but learning to gracefully walk backwards.
"For me it was a little tricky I'm not the most coordinated person," Rosendale said. "I've only ran into one bench so far and that was nice because you fall into it and you just sit down."
Liz said since she is a numbers person she made a list to help her decide on a school and recommends others do the same.
"The pro and con list is a must I've already started one," Hannah Marquardt, prospective student said.
"I've already looked at a lot of schools tuition," Alexa Wiegand said. "I did like it, the tuition seems a lot lower and the people are nice."
At the end of the day Rosendale said she chose UW-L because it fit her university formula.
"It has everything that I needed," Rosendale said. "And it was my home almost instantly and I had an amazing experience and I really did not want to graduate because it's been so awesome. But that's me and every one is different."
Liz know's its not the school for everyone but she tries to make them comfortable enough to realize whether or not it is.
Campus tours aren't just for high school seniors, groups of elementary or middle school students are also welcome on campus to help get them excited for the future.
For more information on scheduling a UW-L campus tour click here.
If students enjoy their tour and want to go to UW-L they must apply.
UW-L gets about 7,000 freshman applications each year.
This fall, Chancellor Joe Gow expects the freshman class to be another big one.
The school expects to welcome 1,950 freshmen to campus; about 250 more than average.
He also said applications are up for non traditional students.
"We're always trying to have as diverse of a class as possible," Dr. Gow said. "We do a lot of outreach to Milwaukee and Chicago and other areas where there's a lot of diversity."
He said its hard to tell exactly how many students they'll have because some people say they're going to enroll but don't.
