College is a time when individuals explore new things and find what excites them. For MSU psychology senior Hannah Greenspan, she discovered her passion is sharing her love for the university. During her first year at MSU, she became a campus tour guide. Now, as a senior, she shares her passion by mentoring newer tour guides as a student supervisor.

Finding a Passion
Around the beginning of her first year as a Spartan, a campus tour guide promotion poster caught Greenspan’s eye. As a natural conversationalist, she thought she would be a perfect fit for the job. She applied and went through the interview process like any other job. The twist? Applicants were given five minutes to talk about anything they wanted during the interview.

“I did the entire plot of “Les Misérables,” the Broadway musical/book that has all of these plot nuances, and it’s a lot to explain in five minutes,” Greenspan says. “I tried to make it funny, and I remember the grad student who was helping with my interview was laughing. It was really fun.”

After being offered the role, a dedicated class for tour guides called TG 101, or Tour Guide 101, expanded her knowledge of MSU. As the name suggests, Tour Guide 101 teaches tour guides about the university, topics to discuss, various programs and how to handle certain scenarios.

“I’ve learned so many things through the tours program that I didn’t know existed coming in,” says Greenspan. “I didn’t know how Olin [Health Center] worked or that we had a program called Spartan Compass, and I didn’t fully understand the nuances of the dining plan. A lot of what I’ve learned about how to navigate as a student at MSU, I learned through the TG 101 program.”

The program is instructed by a professional staff member or graduate student along with a student supervisor. Hearing from the student supervisors is beneficial for new tour guides. They get to ask questions about their experiences and gain insight on how to prepare for the role.

“That kind of peer-to-peer education is a cornerstone of why MSU Tours work so well,” says Assistant Director of Residence Education and Housing Services (REHS) Outreach Linda Karbo. “It’s because we have students like Hannah who excel at being a guide, and they’ve lived that life to where they can move into a leadership role as a student supervisor and reshare that education and connect and mentor.”

From Freshman Guide to Student Leader
By the end of her first year, Greenspan had completed 16 tours. At their final tour guide meeting of the year, students were awarded superlatives. Greenspan was given the title “Most Likely to Meet Tom Izzo at a Basketball Game” by her peers, despite the irony she had never attended a basketball game.

She was also presented with her first Tour Guide of the Month award at that same meeting, but that was just the beginning of her journey. During her second year, Greenspan started to take on more tours, aiming to do four to six tours a week. By her junior year, she expanded her role by becoming a leader for the incoming first-year tour guides.

Greenspan spent a lot more time with the other student supervisors and helped mentor new guides. She showed them the benefits of being a tour guide and how to handle certain situations. And she enjoyed sharing her passion with them.

“What I like about being a tour guide is that I take something I love, and I share it with other people,” says Greenspan. “And that thing I love is MSU, and I show people about MSU and how much I love it.”

With all the time she spent in the program, Greenspan decided she would like to become a student supervisor. Now, during her final year at MSU, Greenspan will see it through as a MSU Tours student supervisor.

“We are so incredibly excited Hannah is going to be taking over training because now we have the chance for everyone to get a little bit of that Hannah excitement and mindset in there,” says Tour Manager Amanda Ross.

More than Tours
Along with helping her become more engaged with the university and its people, she said she has also been able to find her community with the tour guides. She has grown as a person and as a leader.

“Being a tour guide has developed skills that are going to help me in my life,” says Greenspan. “It’s something I’m immensely proud of and love to do. I fall in love with MSU again and again every day.”

Her path with MSU Tours has also helped Greenspan through some tough times. There were times she may be having a tough day, but then while conducting a tour, her spirits would be lifted again just seeing how exciting the university and campus can be and how amazing her experience has been.

Greenspan also shared how fulfilling being a tour guide is, as not only does she feel appreciated and respected, but she also feels at home in a friendly and comfortable work environment.

Learn more about MSU Tours at tour.msu.edu.