Every year, La Salle admits waves of new students from all sorts of backgrounds. Helping them discover how they can fit into La Salle are the school’s student ambassadors — sophomores through seniors who represent La Salle and assist with the school’s admissions process.

According to Admissions Engagement Coordinator Ms. Francesca Marquez-Stock, student ambassadors play a vital role in ensuring admissions events — such as Open House, Game Night, and Freshman Orientation — are successful. “All of these events that we do for prospective families would not be able to be done without our ambassador students,” she said.

Every ambassador’s journey began somewhere, and for senior Amelia St. Amand, junior Jack London, and sophomore Mia Bellavara, that journey started when they were shadows seeing La Salle for the first time.

For London and Bellavara — who both became ambassadors sophomore year — the program was a way to give shadows the same positive experience they had when visiting.

“I remember my experience being really positive, and I remember my ambassador that I shadowed made me feel really welcome,” Bellavara said. “She talked to me about stuff I had interest in, and I’ve kind of done the same thing.” 

Senior Vince Faris emphasized the importance of being a thoughtful ambassador, expressing that without a good shadow experience, students can be discouraged from attending La Salle

“I’ve noticed that when I bring a shadow in, I need to … give them the best experience of what La Salle has to offer,” he said.

Being an ambassador isn’t just about giving prospective students important experiences, Ms. Marquez-Stock said, it also provides ample opportunities for La Salle ambassadors to learn various important skills.

These skills include professionalism and presentability, St. Amand said, along with the opportunity to practice as a representative.

“[It] makes you think about how you present yourself to people around and just really does prepare you for your future in general,” she said.

In addition, every ambassador is able to assist in operations in some way, according to Faris.

“Each person brings individual identities and different values to the table,” he said. “I’ve learned that each one plays a big role, no matter what it is.”

Ambassadors provide prospective students with their first hands-on experience of what La Salle is like, which, according to London, helps build a truly Lasallian community. 

“I feel like this hands-on experience is really great, not only for the kids, but also for us upperclassmen in the sense of creating a community that is Lasallian,” he said.

Moreover, ambassadors are able to leave a lasting impression on those that shadow them, Faris explained.

“Being able to show them what La Salle is like is going to bring lasting impact for them and their high school experience because where you go to high school changes a lot,” he said.

For ambassadors, one value that they hold central is the Lasallian principle of service and giving back to their community, according to Ms. Marquez-Stock. 

Faris echoed this perspective, highlighting that for him, the ambassador program allows him to pursue his love of volunteering.

“Personally, I think that the volunteer work is huge,” he said. “I love giving back to my community, and that’s something I want to do a lot more when I get older.”

One thing ambassadors must navigate is the reality of most shadows being quite shy due to being in a new place they might not have been to before, according to Faris. To work through this, ambassadors are paired up with students with similar interests, and also develop their own strategies for making shadows feel more comfortable.

For London, the key to making shadows feel better is to treat them as he would another classmate, making sure they don’t feel out of place.

Bellavara echoed this, explaining that she tries to connect to her shadows by finding things they have in common, such as volleyball, the sport she plays at La Salle. 

“I’ll usually just take a lap around the school with the shadow and show them certain spots,” she said. “And then we’ll just usually talk and get to know each other.”

Overall, Faris feels that ambassadors serve to open the eyes of prospective students to the Lasallian community, and give them an introduction to what being a student at La Salle is like.

“We are like a representation, a small sliver of what La Salle is,” he said. “As ambassadors, we’re almost like the front cover of an album.”

Reporting was contributed by Hugo Sanchez.