Czuprinski & the Sunset Tour

COVID-19 has managed to stop most things, but it'll never stop the college application process. That's right, even with all the restrictions, parents and their budding college students are still flocking to campuses around the country to try to find that perfect match.

And that's where Ben Czuprinski comes in.

Czuprinski is a senior at Marist and a board member for the Marist Ambassadors, the prestigious admissions group on campus responsible for tours for incoming students. After giving tours for all four years, suffice it to say, he's familiar with this little corner of Poughkeepsie. He dispenses that knowledge to dozens of prospective students and their families every night, following the tour protocol established by the program.

The Ambassadors program has implemented several new types of tours to accommodate the new COVID-19 regulations. These new offerings include a variety of in-person tours, self-guided visits, and virtual tours, all designed to limit the number of outsiders coming to the campus, and to keep everyone who does arrive safe and healthy. The in-person options include guided tours with your very own Ben Czuprinski, information sessions, and specialty tours. Self-guided tours provide visitors with two options — the driving tour and walking tour — which give a map to follow and QR codes at each location to get more information. The final choice is the virtual tour, which can be done comfortably from your very own living room. The Ambassadors obviously remain responsible for the guided tours, which have been pared down to just two families per guide.

Tonight, the 23rd, Czuprinski got to give one of his new favorite types of tours — the sunset tour. The sunset tour takes place — you guessed it — at sunset, casting the beautiful stone campus in a cozy, golden glow. It's truly Marist at its finest, and it's part of the reason Czuprinski loves the evening time slot.

"I love the sunset tour in particular because I love how the sun sets as we're in the Gartland Commons. It really sets the scene for the four years to come," Czuprinski said. "It also allows them to see exactly what it is they're in for with our beautiful campus."

Czuprinski (walking backwards, as a tour guide should) and his one-family tour making their way toward Gartland Commons on the sunset tour.

And it sure is beautiful. I'm definitely biased, but with its cohesive but unique buildings and its perch on the Hudson River, Marist has got to be one of the most photogenic schools I've ever seen. Marist isn't terribly well-known in my urban town in central Connecticut, but those who've heard of it immediately comment, "Oh, that's the one with the pretty campus, right?" Yes. Yes, it is.

But the campus doesn't do all the work — Czuprinski still has to sell high schoolers, and their parents, on all the other perks of Marist. Tonight's tour proved to be a success not just because of the stunning architecture and heavenly glow of the historic Hudson Valley sunset — to make it even better, he got to give it to just one family, the perfect recipe for a personal, and personalized, tour.

"I love it when one-on-one tours happen because we can really talk about their interests and the ways that they see themselves getting involved here," said Czuprinski.

Czuprinski is a big proponent of getting involved, having been an Ambassador for his entire college career, a member of the Honors Program, and an extremely active student on campus. On the Ambassadors board, he's tasked with the massive project of assigning tours to the over 80 tour guides on staff. That number grows every day, too, as students go through the intense three-phase process to become a tour guide. It's a massive and somewhat stressful responsibility, since these guided tours are normally potential students' first impression of the school. It may also be the only time, since pandemics probably don't allow for multiple visits to multiple campuses. And tour guides have to impress the parents too, since they're often the ones to foot the bill.

So if you see Czuprinski waltzing around campus with a band of teens and parents in tow, make sure to look extra studious and friendly, or even stop and say hello. Or, if you see some middle aged folks wandering around with a Marist brochure in hand, squinting to read the writing on buildings, maybe stop and give them a hand. Czuprinski and the Ambassadors can't do all of the work around here.

And don't forget to stop and enjoy the sunset, too. Take your own sunset tour.