Radford University - Beehive Yearbook (Radford, VA)

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22 Student Life Parents relax in the shade between sessions during Quest. Quest student and her mother discuss their schedule for the day before another Quest session in Porterfield Theatre

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jy of Busrb Entertainment Students at Busch 21 This job’s for you V s « ' — • Another former Busch Gardens employee at Radford is Mildred Williams. Williams is a junior and is majoring in special education. She is currently working on Stuart first floor as resident assistant. For the past three summers, Williams has been floundering about the Old Country as a costume character for the live entertainment department, trying her best to keep guests entertained. She considered herself “the friendly welcome wagon of Busch Gardens” because the heart of her job was to interact with people and make them happy. Williams wore the costume of ‘'Tallulah” the frog and when she climbed into her costume she said, “I could be somebody 1 wasn’t. 1 used all my creative ability to make guests laugh even when it was 85 to 90 degrees outside”. Williams wasn’t required to wear the costume for eight hours a day. She said her work intervals were for thirty minutes and then she would climb out of her world of make-believe and take a thirty minute bread. Williams said. “I felt proud being a costume character because I felt exceptional and unique.” Donna Joyce, another Radford junior, is major- ing in office administration and is a work-study student in the office of Residential Life. Joyce has been working the past three summers for the operations department. She’s one of a thirteen-person team who oversees Lezmans race ears in “Country of France”. Her work week consisted of approximately 55 hours, ten hours a day. Joyce enjoyed working at this location because she could stay outside all day and work on her “farmer’s tan”. Her job involved a tremendous amount of running because she had to direct guests to the curs, assure their safety and direct them from the ride. Joyce said she would meet people all over the country and from foreign countries which sometimes caused communication problems. She said, “It’s hard to tell an Iranian to exit to your left because they have no idea of what you’re talking about”. Radford students who have worked at Busch Gardens feel genuine warmth toward employees and guests. They believe Busch Gardens looks out for its former employees by offering to rehire them each year and generally tries to help high school and college students by offering them summer work. German 'lancer perform folk dance in front of the Festhaus. Animal characters make friends of strangers.

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Losing that ‘lost’ feeling Mr. and Mrs. Ned Williams and their daughter check their agenda to see what Quest session they should attend next. LT.ST ASSlS'i WTS: (Bottom Row) Kathy Shelburne. Chris Xyland. Mike urke. !. ii Uhite (Middle Row) Lisa McPherson. Lisa Holland, Cindy Thorn:i-. Anne Morris. Steven Jones, Carla Southworth. Audrey Moore, y Bellingham. Tami Neininger, Debe McKie (Top Row) Kathy Panchison, Mike Nugent. Robin Long. Teas Royals. Gaby Wade. “Quest ’81 really helped me get ready for coming to college. If they didn’t have this program, I’d be lost,” said one new freshman student who attended Quest ’81. Quest ’81, a summer orientation program designed for incoming freshmen and new transfer students, was held in five two-day sessions starting June 21-July 1. A total of 1,152 students and 1,452 parents attended the program and had the opportunity to become acquainted with Radford University in areas of academics, residential living, university policies, and social activities. The success of the program was evident in many comments received from parents, students, and administrators. “I feel a lot more comfortable about sending my daughter to college, because I know what’s going on and she does too,” was the response from a parent. “The whole program was a university-wide effort,” stated Dave Robertson, associate dean of students. “E very-one who helped with Quest ’81 contributed a lot of time and energy, but I feel the Quest Student Assistants were really the key to the success of the program.” Due to an increase in the number of people attending Quest ’81, 20 Quest Assistants were chosen from over a hundred applicants. After an application and interview process, the final decisions were made. “I feel we did a good job in selecting people of various personality types. Of course, you need people who are knowledgeable about the university and are outgoing, because it’s hard to just walk up to a group of people you’ve never seen and start talking,” said Robertson. One of the main attractions of Quest ’81 was the University Life program sponsored by Quest Assistants. This program consisted of numerous skits to give students information in a humorous, ret interesting manner, peeches were incorporated into the program so students could better relate to the information. “The enthusiasm was great. They made the whole program very enjoyable,” said Robertson. “I thought the skits were the best part of Quest ’81, because the Quest assistants really got into the roles they were playing. The skits were tunny, but you remembered them and I learned a lot about college life,” said one freshman participant. Most students and parents completed a survey at the end of each Quest session. The question with the most positive re-sponse was that the Quest assistants were very helpful and that the entire program helped participants. But the students and parents who attended Quest '81 weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the program. Many Quest assistants themselves made comments such as this one: “I had such a good time during Quest ’81, because I felt like I was doing something for other students. It also made me proud of Radford University. I developed a lot of confidence in myself and it’s nice to know that I have 19 other “best friends” that I can rely on when I need them.” Quest ’81 was certainly a success and that success had a definite bearing on the attitudes of the new students. Quest ’81 23