The 2019 Cyclone Aides are hard at work preparing to introduce incoming and transfer students to Iowa State.

Students may remember Cyclone Aides as the smiling guides in red polos and khakis from freshman orientation. This year, 45 Cyclone Aides and five advisors are putting on their uniforms to present Iowa State to thousands of new Cyclones.

Being a Cyclone Aide is a year long position in which applicants apply in October and begin training in the spring semester. Aides attend a two-day-a-week Cyclone Aide Leadership Seminar where they partake in over 100 hours of of leadership training.

During this seminar, a variety of faculty and staff inform the Cyclone Aides on all things Iowa State, ranging from meal plans, resident hall life, transportation, university history and panel training. The goal is to make them experts on Iowa State and to help them master their leadership skills. Outside of the seminar class, Cyclone Aides prepare for their summer duties by learning campus tours and helping with transfer student orientation.

All of this work leads up to six weeks of summer orientation. The Cyclone Aides work full time during these weeks with hopes to alleviate the anxiety that new students and their families, feel during the transition to college.

“Being able to help other people fall in love with Iowa State was one of the most rewarding things for me,” said Rylee Bowman, a sophomore studying political science.

Bowman was a Cyclone Aide last year, and is now one of the five student advisors who directs the new class of aides. She has already experienced the Aide perspective and said she is thrilled to have the opportunity to be an advisor.

“I am looking forward to getting to watch the 45 new Cyclone Aides come into their own as leaders and grow as leaders and communicators with all of the professional development that we’re doing and watching them step up into this amazing position,” Bowman said.

One of these new leaders is Keaton Maier, a junior studying aerospace engineering.

“I was reflecting on my own experience at orientation and I thought about a moment where my dad and I just had a candid conversation with a couple of Cyclone Aides,” Maier said. “It was really enjoyable and I thought that I would have a lot of fun doing that and being a resource for new students this summer.”

Along with meeting new students, the Cyclone Aides form a special bond with each other through all of the time spent together. They get to know one another through their seminar class and by living on campus together during the summer.

“Now the 40 of the other Cyclone Aides are some of my best friends,” Bowman said. “We are such a diverse group of people from different majors, colleges, backgrounds, and hometowns, but we have the unique shared experience of sharing this summer together as orientation leaders.” 

Cyclone Aides have the opportunity to lead and be the face of Iowa State for prospective students. Their passion for the university and its community brings them together to form a team who portrays Iowa State in its best light.

“I’m really looking forward to having the opportunity to just create a great orientation experience for new students and be a resource for them and meeting new people,” Maier said.