When taking a tour of any school, one assumes that some facts are sugar-coated, and the school tries to play up things they believe make their school seem better than another school.

Of course what they advertise is all true, but how much is actually true to the everyday life a student. Is the food actually that good? Do people actually have time to balance homework and sports? Will the professors really know my name? All questions that as a student to Saint Anselm College, I can truly attest to.

As an insider taking an outside look, shadowing a tour full of prospective students was interesting. Although I was expecting to debunk a few facts, I could not find one thing I’d call ‘fake news.’ As the very friendly tour guide, a sophomore student here, took us around the campus I’ve come to know so well, I realized all his facts and points of interest were very true to the school.

We started our tour taking a bus to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and through the senior apartments, affectionately known as “Uppers” to our students here at SAC.

We then visited NHIOP, and as someone who has never been in there while I was touring the school or as a student, I was just as genuinely impressed as the prospective students and their parents were. It was emphasized that one does not have to be a politics major to be involved in the goings on at the NHIOP. Boasting recently hosting Jeff Flake and Susan Collins here, Saint Anselm is smart to emphasize how amazing it is to have access to be so involved in the political world.

After the library, a classic stop on any college tour, we continued on to the Abbey Church, a place very special to Saint Anselm College. The tour guide talked about how Saint Anselm College is a Catholic college, but it is not at all forced upon any student. That is all true, as never once have I felt pressured to attend a Mass, but there are plenty of opportunities too if one wanted to participate.

That liberty is very important to a prospective student, as faith is a big part of the school, but it does not have to be a part of everyone’s college experience. The tour guide explained how we follow the Benedictine values and emphasized how the monks that work and live around campus, something else very unique and important to Saint Anselm College.

The new student center was a highlight of the tour, with the Academic Resources Center, Career Development Center, Meelia Center and Campus Ministry being pointed out, as well as the Starbucks option at the Gallo Cafe.

When touring the Carr Center and the Stoutenburgh Gym, Relay for Life was a big topic, as the tour guide stated that almost the entire school takes part, once again emphasizing the strong sense of community here.

The biggest selling point which was emphasized was the sense of community felt here at Saint Anselm’s, how involved the students are and how nice everyone is– faculty and students alike.

When going on a tour to a school, it may seem all about the academics, food and residential life, but it really is important to note the culture. As the tour guide talked about his reason for coming here, how it came down to how welcoming the students were to him and how the professors always said hi when walking past them, those are true to this day.

I have felt so welcomed into the community from day one, and that should be one of Saint Anselm’s proudest aspects of this school. The community fostered here is one that I feel very lucky to be a part of, and Saint Anselm is very special to have that sense of community and it is important that those who are potentially coming to Saint A’s know that.