Admit Weekend 2019: a weekend where most current Stanford students stayed inside hiding from prospective freshmen (ProFros) with a large amount of energy. While many students try to avoid Admit Weekend in general, there are certain individuals who step up every year and embrace the chaotic demons that are known as ProFros. I was one of those individuals.
As a House Host (HoHo) for Sally Ride, I was lucky enough to be one of the freshmen tasked with welcoming over 1300 ProFros. Along with Devon Holland ’22, Maya Harris ’22, Lauryn Johnson ’22 and Connor Rokos ’22, I got to be an RA for the weekend.
Traditionally, HoHos dress up in rally gear to pick up their ProFros and hype them up for what’s arguably — according to Stanford’s Admit Weekend team — the best weekend of your life. Even better than the Fyre Festival, Admit Weekend is essentially Stanford’s way of convincing the ProFros to commit to Stanford, to sell their soul to CS and to #RideOrDie for this school. As Dean Shaw once yelled at us, “Gooooooooo Card!”
Throughout the weekend, we got to shepherd out ProFro’s, direct them towards places they were looking for and, my personal favorite, sometimes get confused as a ProFro ourselves. We also got to go to some of their events such as when they rolled out to the food trucks that impressed their young minds.
Behind the scenes, many clubs and organizations were preparing for the huge influx of ProFros, seeking to engrain in their minds the thought, “Wow! They’re cool. I should join that club when I come to Stanford.” The activities fair was more like a Cold War in the hot sun with every club and organization seeking to exert their influence over every possible Stanford student. If you failed to attract ProFros to your table, you were killing recruitment. Candy, live music and swag were all brought out in full force to attract ProFros. As a HoHo, you couldn’t help but strongly recommend your ProFros to go to the fair, even while knowing damn well that you were going to be tabling there for several activities.
The best part about being a HoHo was the power you commanded as these different groups fought for power. Promoting an event or an activity on the ProFros’ GroupMe meant a swarm of them was guaranteed. With such power at my fingertips, I could seriously tip the scales in favor of some of your own clubs. But it also meant that I got to show them some of the best that Stanford has to offer.
ProFros are often full of energy, and as a HoHo, you have to try and match that. Admit Weekend found me running all around campus place to place. All of my commitments had me doing different activities for ProFros, whether it be having lunch with them, rolling them out to go fountain hopping, introducing a panel for them or even showing them where our dorm was.
While some people find ProFros to be just as unappealing and undesirable as caterpillars, I strongly believe in them and their brightness, and I look forward to welcoming them for years to come. “Welcome to Stanford!” will always be words that I hope will come out my mouth for the upcoming Admit Weekends in years to come.
Contact Richard Coca at richcoca ‘at’ stanford.edu.