Blue Key Society, a student organization made up of undergraduate student ambassadors, provides campus tours for prospective students visiting the Homewood campus. The group’s goal is to provide information about life at Hopkins in a fun and engaging way.
In the fall semester, Blue Key Society hosts a variety of different prospective student events, and in the spring semester, the organization plans “yield events,” which are intended to encourage students to commit to Hopkins. As of this academic year, Blue Key society members are considered student employees and are paid for their work.
Sophomore Roma Joglekar joined Blue Key Society in her freshman year and is currently a general body member. General body members are responsible for leading campus tours for prospective and admitted students as well as participating in student panels. By talking about their own experiences, members are able to answer questions about Hopkins and Baltimore.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Joglekar described how Blue Key Society helps its tour guides explore and learn about Baltimore so they can better introduce visitors to the city.
“Blue Key members often talk about their experiences within Baltimore during tours and panels,” she said. “At our last general body meeting, we were able to participate in a scavenger hunt around Baltimore, where we visited Mount Vernon, Hampden and Remington. It was a great opportunity to explore the community.”
Apart from general body members, the organization is also made up of student committees. These members are often more involved with the Society’s off-campus work, including reaching out to high schools and hosting events for admitted students in other states.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Blue Key Society’s Student Coordinator for Off-campus and International Students, senior Daivik Chawla, discussed some of the specific ways Blue Key reaches out to communities far from Homewood.
“I help connect admissions officers with current Blue Key students who might go home for the holidays and can visit their high school to talk more about Hopkins there or connect with their high school virtually,” he explained.
Blue Key Society’s international students also connect with admissions officers who work with schools across the world.
In addition to giving campus tours, Blue Key Society hosted the first of their two Senior Visit Days on Oct. 9. Current high school seniors had the opportunity to visit the Homewood campus, attend a variety of different student panels and attend some classes to better understand daily life at the University. Parents were able to interact with current students and ask questions in roundtable discussions.
When asked about their favorite part of Blue Key Society, interviewees expressed similar sentiments: Joining Blue Key Society allowed them to connect with different types of people from around the globe and become part of a friendly community.
“Something that I really enjoy about Blue Key is having the opportunity to interact with so many different people and being part of a community that promotes the positive aspects of the Hopkins community,” Chawla said. “I feel like the organization is very tight-knit, and we have fun organizing events together and accomplishing tasks together.”
