{"id":19438,"date":"2016-11-02T10:23:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T14:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?p=19438"},"modified":"2016-11-18T11:06:54","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T16:06:54","slug":"eagle-eye-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2016\/11\/02\/eagle-eye-view\/","title":{"rendered":"Eagle Eye View"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to your UMW campus tour<\/a> with senior guide Marc Gehlsen.<\/p>\n

11:30 a.m.,\u00a0Lee Hall<\/a>:\u00a0Home of Admissions, Student Services, Financial Aid and More<\/strong><\/p>\n

You push open the door to Lee Hall, step out onto the sun-soaked stone terrace. Blinded, you squeeze your eyes shut, replay the admissions message inside your head. You refocus, look out onto the Fredericksburg campus. In a flash, you see your future unfold.<\/p>\n

\"Student <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lee <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Marc <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Marc <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Marc <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

11:32 a.m.,\u00a0Ball Circle<\/a>:\u00a0The center of Mary Wash student life and traditions<\/strong><\/p>\n

You hurry down the steps to join your tour group. That\u2019s when Marc Gehlsen whisks onto the scene.<\/p>\n

He struts like a drum major across a faux stage. Anything to get your attention. \u201cA big word on campus is \u2018tradition,\u2019 \u201d he says, pointing to the spherical lawn, site of uniquely Mary Washington customs like Club Carnival and Devil-Goat Day. He reveals he\u2019s a devil, spars with a mom in the crowd who says she\u2019s a goat.<\/p>\n

A Washington Guide, Gehlsen has led UMW tours for years, zany one-liners, colorful commentary and all. He delivers in English, of course, but he also speaks Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian and Arabic. His love of language will take him into the courtroom as a forensic linguist, but for now he\u2019s using his words to wow campus visitors \u2013 like you.<\/p>\n

11:37 a.m., Randolph-Mason Hall<\/a>:\u00a0One of Mary Washington\u2019s 18 residence halls<\/strong><\/p>\n

You stroll along Campus Walk toward Randolph-Mason Hall, dodging a squirrel on the way. Inside, Gehlsen starts in \u2013 student IDs, laundry, bathrooms. Private or shared, he jokes, they both accommodate the urge to \u201csing Disney ballads in the shower.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had his share of sharing growing up, the youngest of five on a Nokesville, Virginia, Christmas-tree farm. He gleaned what he could from his siblings, who all studied language before him, and from the migrant workers his father, a masonry carpenter, invited to dinner.<\/p>\n

By the time Gehlsen took Spanish in middle school, he could curl and roll r\u2019s like nobody\u2019s business, and he zoomed to the top of his class. Other languages followed, including Hawaiian, because \u201cwho doesn\u2019t want to say \u2018aloha\u2019 whenever they get the chance?\u201d<\/p>\n

In college, Gehlsen knew he would major in Spanish. A campus tour led him to choose Mary Washington. It was fall, and the scenery and sense of community \u2013 everyone seemed to smile and say \u201chi\u201d \u2013 cast a spell, he said, like a wand that finds the right wizard. Hands all aflutter, he demonstrates the Harry Potter effect for your tour.<\/p>\n

11:45 a.m., Palmieri Plaza<\/a>:\u00a0A signature UMW meeting area, complete with fountain<\/strong><\/p>\n

You move on with the group, trailing Gehlsen up the hill to Palmieri Plaza. \u201cYou have to swim in the fountain at least once before you graduate,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019d like to try it before the end of the tour, you\u2019re welcome to.\u201d<\/p>\n

11:47 a.m., Monroe Hall<\/a>: One of UMW\u2019s many academic buildings, housing history, geography and political science<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lost in the bubbly blue water, you realize the crew has moved on without you. You catch up, climb the steps to Monroe Hall. File into a classroom. Slide into a desk. Gehlsen\u2019s up front, explaining UMW\u2019s Honor Code, Office of Disability Resources and opportunity to create unique courses of study. He dishes on his own second major, a linguistics program he crafted himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis brain has a knack for language,\u201d said Betsy Lewis, professor of Spanish and chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. \u201cSome students worry they\u2019ll make a mistake. They freeze up. Marc\u2019s personality is so outgoing he can just jump right in and not worry about any of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Phi Sigma Iota language honor society member, he studied abroad on a trip Lewis led to trace Don Quixote\u2019s footsteps through Spain and plans to pursue a master\u2019s degree in linguistics on the West Coast. At UMW, Gehlsen has handled social media for the Honor Council, coordinated programming for Green Housing, and started an honors thesis that keeps him holed up in the Hurley Convergence Center. Your group heads there next.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Anderson <\/a> <\/div>
\"University <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Information <\/a> <\/div>
\"Inside <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Marc <\/a>
Marc Ghlsen giving a campus tour, Wednesday Oct. 12, 2016. (Photo by Norm Shafer). <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"senior <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

11:56 a.m., Hurley Convergence Center<\/a>: Four stories of state-of-the-art tech capabilities<\/strong><\/p>\n

You walk on, passing Simpson Library and Blackstone Coffee, which a fully caffeinated Gehlsen calls \u201cthe most important building on campus.\u201d You visit the Goolrick Hall gym, see the Anderson and University centers, before returning to Lee, where you browse through the bookstore for the perfect memento.<\/p>\n

But you know you\u2019ll be back.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a quick glimpse of campus, but for Gehlsen \u2013 who caught the tour-guide bug as a freshman, brewing coffee and propping open the door of his Randolph Hall room, which was part of the rounds \u2013 it speaks volumes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve loved every single second of it,\u201d he said. \u201cI get to spread the word of the UMW awesomeness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Intrigued by Gehlsen\u2019s tour of the UMW campus? Want to see more? Take our guided, interactive <\/em>virtual tour<\/em><\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inside a UMW campus tour with senior guide Marc Gehlsen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":19440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-show","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEagle Eye View - Great Minds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2016\/11\/02\/eagle-eye-view\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/02\\\/eagle-eye-view\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/02\\\/eagle-eye-view\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7\"},\"headline\":\"Eagle Eye View\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-02T14:23:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-18T16:06:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/02\\\/eagle-eye-view\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":844,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/02\\\/eagle-eye-view\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Tour_home.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Show on Great Minds\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/02\\\/eagle-eye-view\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/02\\\/eagle-eye-view\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/02\\\/eagle-eye-view\\\/\",\"name\":\"Eagle Eye View - 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