April 2004

James Ehrmann • Climbing the Social Ladder

Today was another of what has become a laundry list of firsts here at Iowa. A group of girls from Aplington-Parkersburg High School, as well as a mom and her son, were the first prospective students to be in my tour guide group. Well, officially, it was a co-tour with a more “seasoned” tour guide, but I was selling the university to them, nonetheless. My hours for this job will be limited, probably only about one tour a week, with a couple additional special visit day tours on Saturdays and Fridays. Obviously, you don’t give tours exclusively for the money. For me, it’s about influence. It’s exhilarating to know that what I do for an hour to either persuade or dissuade a group of high school students could ultimately cause the rise or fall of enrollment here at the university. It’s the power of the job that intrigues me, which should come as no surprise since today my friend Jason and I decided that we are both social climbers—to an extent. We will flock to any group, organization, and/or job where we can smell the opportunity for advancement and power.

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