With the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments, businesses, corporations, schools, etc. all had to adapt to the new normal. We all know the obvious changes made to Berkeley Carroll and how we navigate through schooling in the midst of this chaos, but our admissions team doesn’t get the recognition it should for their tireless efforts.

While I’m positive other aspects of admissions have been dealt with, I am specifically talking about the Key Society, which is the organization of students and faculty that leads tours and open houses to prospective BC families.

I am a new Key Society member, so I knew little about how the Key Society is planning on taking on these unforeseen circumstances, but Ms. Henriquez was kind enough to help me get a deeper understanding. She explained that to prevent risking the safety of the Key Society members and our guests, all tours and open houses would be conducted virtually on Zoom. In the open house portion, there is a group of student panelists who describe their experiences, both general and personal, at BC; they also answer questions posed by the student moderator for that open house.

After the open house, everyone is split into breakout rooms, each with a designated tour guide. They guide the group through a slideshow explaining different aspects of the school: academics, co-curriculars, student leadership opportunities, etc.

An important point that Ms. Henriquez made is that with these virtual open houses, our guests really don’t have the chance to experience what the environment feels like at BC. That being said, after attending the first open house as a spectator, I don’t think that’s the case. The moderator, panelists, and tour guides all chipped in their respective experiences and the possible experiences of the guests to create a perfect picture of BC’s environment. Though it can’t possibly beat being there in person, the Key Society did an excellent job navigating the constraints of virtual school.