Campus Tours with Jaci Walker

As a high schooler, I loved college tours. Everything about college seemed exciting, and I always enjoyed fantasizing about what it would be like. College has, indeed, lived up to my expectations so far (plus a little less sleep and a little more stress). When I walked into the union this morning, there was a big Scholars Day tour event going on. I smiled as I walked by with my backpack and coffee cup, feeling like a real college student.

Tours are not just about seeing campus, however. An important part of picturing yourself on campus is talking to students to hear what their campus life is like. Today I talked to Jaci Walker about what it’s like to be a tour guide here at OU.

Jaci is a sophomore, so this is her first semester as a tour guide. It’s also the most normal semester she has had at OU since last semester had many more pandemic restrictions. I asked her if this made it harder to be a tour guide. Many other sophomores I have talked to seem almost as lost on campus as I was my first week. Jaci, however, does not feel like the COVID year hindered her too much. 

“As a freshman, I was surprised by how normal it still felt,” she shared with me. “The university did a good job of providing that environment.”

The main factor that made a difference for Jaci was her involvement.

“Being in things like HSLC and PLC.”

These clubs, along with her sorority, gave her upperclassmen mentors who already knew the ropes of campus. Jaci explained that the people you are around are the most important resource on campus.

Thanks to these experiences, Jaci was able to pass the daunting tour guide test.

“It’s extensive. You just really have to know a lot of things about the university that would be applicable to students interested in the university. It’s mainly short-answer, fill in the blank…those are blanks you’re supposed to be filling in the tour. Some things there may not be one specific answer.”

This test, along with an interview over the summer, makes up the process of being a tour guide. It’s a paid position, and Jaci told me a little about how this makes it different from other campus activities.

“As a college student, a lot of your involvement is choice. But this is a job.” 

Being a tour guide has taught her about having balance. While she is spending time on campus with friends, it is a real job, which makes it a different kind of commitment than clubs or activities.

“The job itself is somewhat demanding, just in the sense of the events you help with on top of your regular tour shifts during the week.”

Working with people is another aspect of the job that has helped her grow. 

“It’s kind of the same as working in food service or working in retail. Working with people is huge. You’re going to get so many different types of parents, so many different types of students.”

With this, Jaci has learned to adjust her tour depending on her audience. However, across the board, her favorite part is reminiscing about life as a freshman. Jaci uses her experiences as a freshman to help visitors figure out what their time on campus could look like. 

It is also fun to connect with people about food.

“When we go to the Caf,” she told me, “if we haven’t sold [them] on anything else, we always say we have the only all-you-can-eat Chick Fil A and the biggest cereal bar in the Big 12.”

(Will we still be able to brag about our cereal bar when we join the SEC??)

As I remember from my campus tours, Jaci ends her tours with her “Why OU?”.

“It is simply for the fact that nowhere else I visited felt like home the way OU did…the size of it was perfect. Also, the people here truly invest in you, in your goals and your dreams and what you want to do.”

It may sound cliche. It may sound like something you would hear on a campus visit anywhere. In my short time on campus, though, I already see how true this is. 

The OU family is real, no matter how cliché it may seem. This is exactly what Jaci tells visitors. 

“Go where you feel at home, supported, and loved for who you are. Where you can be guided into who you want to be. I want you to know that this is what I have found here [at OU]. I want this for you.” 

Dining at Cross

One of my friends likes to call the freshman housing at Cross Village “the downtown” of campus. At the bottom of a couple of the buildings, you can find restaurants, a coffee shop, and even a grocery store. The dining options in Cross are mostly staffed by students. I talked with my friend who works there, Mikayla Barabasz, to get an idea of what it is like to work for OU Housing and Food. 

Mikayla works eighteen hours a week at the restaurants in Cross. These include Credo Kitchen, Glow Kitchen, Milkflower Gelateria, The Hive, and Basic Knead. How often each of these is open depends on how many student staff members are available to work. 

“I don’t even know,” Mikayla said when I asked about the restaurants’ hours. “Credo is always open, and Glow…it’s whenever we have workers. It changes every time I go to work. Now I’m used to working at all the places.”

It sometimes gets annoying as a student never knowing what dining options will actually be open, but it seems like it would be worse as an employee. I asked Mikayla what she thought of it. 

“At the beginning, it was kind of weird,” she told me. She never knew where she was going to work on any given day. 

“But I made friends that way,” she explained. “The people I work with always just talk. There’s never a dull moment.”

Mikayla did not, however, have any experience in food service before coming to college. 

“My counselor sent out an email, so I applied for it.” 

It pays for her food and housing.

“[It’s] not bad,” she told me. It’s all about trying to balance a routine to make time for homework. Most college students can relate to this.  

Overall, Mikayla has had a good experience, and whenever I see her she is making the Cross restaurants a good experience for customers. She always has a smile on her face. She enjoys making others smile too. Milkflower gelato is her favorite place to work of all the restaurants. 

“People seem happier when they get gelato. It makes people’s days.”

Coffee Shop Review with Aubrey

College students are known for being sleep deprived. Hence, the large number of coffee shops on and around campus. Starbucks is easy and reliable, but variety is the spice of life. Norman certainly has a variety of coffee shops.

Aubrey McNeil is well versed in the art of exploring coffee shops. She came to OU from the Tulsa area. Back home, trying new coffee shops was a weekly pastime.

“I have this friend named Ari. She was already a coffee addict, and I wasn’t yet. So that was our one thing to do every week.”

Here in Norman, Aubrey has already become a regular at several of the coffeehouses that surround OU.

“I came to campus hoping only to drink coffee once a week or twice a week. During Camp Crimson, we ended up staying up til one o’clock or two o’clock every day, and coffee was the only thing that could help me function the next day. Now I drink coffee once a day. I hope to never be more than once a day. If I’m desperate I get a double shot of espresso.”

We love caffeine.

Today Aubrey visited Not Your Average Joe for the first time, and she agreed to share her experience for this blog’s first Coffee Shop Review.

Though the coffee shop is not even a block away from the dorms, it’s tucked away just enough to feel like a hidden gem. From what she’d heard, Aubrey knew she could expect a great atmosphere – one of the most important parts of the coffee shop experience. She was not disappointed.

The kindness of the employees was one highlight of the experience.

“I came in here this morning, and we just started talking about random stuff.” Aubrey told me. It is important to her to find a spot that feels welcoming and comfortable.

“Since we’re not at home, it’s good to find any place that feels homey”

The music and the decor helped to make the experience, too. The quiet acoustic songs made it feel like a “feel good movie”. The walls, chairs, and light fixtures were all painted cheerful primary colors.

“i think the colors add to the energy. This is somewhere i might go when I’m really tired. It just seems like an energizing place.”

What more could you ask for?

Of course, the most important part of a coffee shop is the coffee.

“I got a Turtle Frappuccino,” Aubrey reported. Chocolate, caramel, and hazelnut syrups, an almond milk substitute, and homemade whipped cream on top. The perfect treat. To complete the perfection, the cup was decorated with a friendly doodle. Aubrey smiled as she showed it off.

“I love it when they write cute little notes on my cup. It makes my day.”

The menu includes all the classic drinks, as well as unique ones like an horchata latte made with rice milk and cinnamon. The “Drink that Must Not be Named” even contains magic, according to the menu. You can also order everything from smoothies to baked goods to sandwiches to ice cream.

Aubrey is certain she’ll be back.

“I’ll probably try a fall special…I love seasonal drinks.”

And there will certainly be more Coffee Shop Reviews to come!

The First OU Football Game

Last Saturday, we had a surprise home game. It’s football time in Oklahoma! The student section was a completely different experience than attending games as a kid. Listening to the band, singing the alma mater, and cheering on the players made college finally seem real. I live here. I belong here. I am part of this.

For some of my friends, this was more than their first time in the student section. It was their first time attending a game in Gaylord Memorial Stadium.

I talked to Sam Flowers and Reese Pokluda to get an idea of how game day on a college campus compared to their previous football experiences.

Sam grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. Her high school did not even have a football team.

“I would go to the other school’s football games”, she explained, but that was the extent of her football exposure. Still, Sam had high expectations for Sooner football, and Saturday’s game did not disappoint.

For Reese, the game could not live up to expectations. Reese is from Texas. When we met up to talk about his first college football game, he was decked out in full Dallas Cowboys attire.

“I don’t care about college football,” he told me. “That’s just how it is. After you go to an NFL game, you’re just unimpressed by a college game.”

I have never been to an NFL game myself, so Reese explained the difference to me.

“The music is louder,” he said. “The atmosphere is very different. But also just watching, the game is so much better in the NFL.”

Reese is more into the sport itself than football traditions like singing along with the band, doing the cheers, or standing up in the student section for hours on end.

For Sam, though, The Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band and the energy of the student section were the highlights of the day.

“Being a student here then going and sitting in the student section definitely felt like i was part of the game,” she said. “The heat was the worse part. The only reason why I left.”

The heat did not stop Reese from staying for the entire game. This is a matter of principle that I respect, though I will admit to leaving before the fourth quarter ended. Reese filled me in on what I missed.

“It did get exciting at the end, but it shouldn’t have.”

That was just the first game. We are ready for Saturday, even if Reese claims he is only coming back because he gets in free as a student athlete. The energy in Norman is building, and it is once again time to cheer on our Sooners. That leaves only one thing left to say…

Boomer!