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Brown University tour guide Renee Hellner ’16 spent approximately 80 percent of her tour Wednesday bragging about her ability to walk backwards, according to tour-goers.
Hellner began the tour by asking tour-goers to let her know if there was someone or something behind her because she would in fact be walking backwards for the full hour. Most tour-goers were under the impression that this initial comment would be the only mention of walking backwards, but Hellner continued to relay anecdotes about her “impressive coordination to walk backwards.”
Hellner told the same anecdote twice about a time when she tripped over herself while walking backwards. “I was telling the tour about Brown’s amazing open curriculum, and then I tripped over myself,” said Hellner. She was adamant about the fact that she did not trip over a crack in the side walk, just herself.
Midway through the tour a parent asked a question about dining on campus, to which Hellner responded, “Yeah, I’ve been doing tours for the past four years, basically, so I’m amazing at walking backwards at this point.”
Toward the end of the tour, Hellner went into detail about the mechanics of walking backwards, particularly that it involved a toe-to-heel motion of the feet.
