Spring Break
Senior tour guide, expert at walking backwards, URI facts
Lindsay Lorenz
Issue date: 1/27/09 Section: News
01/27/09 - Ever wonder what the average University of Rhode Island student's SAT score is, or how many professors have Ph.D.s? How about the number of different tree species on campus?
While many students would likely have to consult a university publication, the URI tour guides are armed with every statistic possible and prepared to showcase their knowledge to high school students interested in attending URI.
Senior Andrew Cadorette, 21, from Biddeford, Maine, has been a tour guide since his sophomore year. Today he's a seasoned-pro when it comes to condensing everything URI into an hour and a half walking tour.
"We're the bridge that gaps seniors to college," Cadorette said. "Sometimes we're the first faces they see."
Cadorette, a pharmacy major and one of 80 tour guides, said he knew URI was the place for him after taking a tour of URI during his senior year of high school.
He remembers thinking, "if [my tour guide] has this love for the school...then I hope to be the same way."
Once or twice a week Cadorette meets groups of 20-25 people, mostly high school students and their families, at the admission tour booth in the Memorial Union lounge.
From there, walking backward to project his voice, he leads the group around the top of campus, giving potential students their first glimpse of URI's academic buildings and library.
Next, visitors tour dining halls and dorm rooms, making a stop in Browning Hall's sample dorm room, which Cadorette said is comparable to the rooms many URI students call home.
"Obviously it's a lot tidier and nicer," he said. "There's not laundry everywhere."
The sample room has all the standard dorm furniture complete with a made up bed and a TV.
The last stop on the tour is at the very bottom of campus where potential students learn about URI athletics and get a peek at Mackal Fieldhouse's facilities.
All along the way Cadorette, still walking backwards, fields questions from his group.
While many students would likely have to consult a university publication, the URI tour guides are armed with every statistic possible and prepared to showcase their knowledge to high school students interested in attending URI.
Senior Andrew Cadorette, 21, from Biddeford, Maine, has been a tour guide since his sophomore year. Today he's a seasoned-pro when it comes to condensing everything URI into an hour and a half walking tour.
"We're the bridge that gaps seniors to college," Cadorette said. "Sometimes we're the first faces they see."
Cadorette, a pharmacy major and one of 80 tour guides, said he knew URI was the place for him after taking a tour of URI during his senior year of high school.
He remembers thinking, "if [my tour guide] has this love for the school...then I hope to be the same way."
Once or twice a week Cadorette meets groups of 20-25 people, mostly high school students and their families, at the admission tour booth in the Memorial Union lounge.
From there, walking backward to project his voice, he leads the group around the top of campus, giving potential students their first glimpse of URI's academic buildings and library.
Next, visitors tour dining halls and dorm rooms, making a stop in Browning Hall's sample dorm room, which Cadorette said is comparable to the rooms many URI students call home.
"Obviously it's a lot tidier and nicer," he said. "There's not laundry everywhere."
The sample room has all the standard dorm furniture complete with a made up bed and a TV.
The last stop on the tour is at the very bottom of campus where potential students learn about URI athletics and get a peek at Mackal Fieldhouse's facilities.
All along the way Cadorette, still walking backwards, fields questions from his group.
