The most memorable scenes for me from the Pixar film Monsters University were the ones with Resident Advisers interacting with Mike and other first-years on move-in day. It was all too accurate, but, it only captured the ‘after.’ Depending on the school, students are in intense training from about 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM for a little less than two weeks before students move in and classes begin. Often Resident Advisers are made fun of for being too friendly and therefore unrealistic and fake. At my school, the training RA’s (Resident Advisers) go through helps to build a strong community of love and support that you can’t help but smile and be positive while welcoming people onto campus.

Here are 3 RA secrets that lead to our strong community:

• 1) We are encouraged to get to know everyone. Some organizations and teams do this but from what I have experienced, RAs seem to do this the best. During training our leaders encourage us and remind us to sit with someone new during each session if possible, and if not, each day. They do not just say this once, they also write it on training sheets that they hand out, and will sometimes announce it at the beginning of sessions. The activities they build into the training often involve teams or groups which are selected at random or chosen before-hand. This means you are always talking and working with someone new. Since everyone has programmed in their minds that it is a good thing to meet and talk with new people, there is hardly ever a feeling that someone new got ‘stuck’ in a group or that they are outsiders.
• 2) We are encouraged to respect each other’s opinions. Training can be overwhelming not only because we are constantly in different meetings and learning important information about the school, but also because we share emotional stories and personal details with each other. The leaders create a sense that everyone in the room has a story; everyone in the room matters and where they come from and what they have been through matters. Because of that, most if not all RAs, during training, share deep experiences and opinions with the rest of the group and we are all encouraged to listen and respect whatever is being shared. Even when we disagree (which is not frowned upon because it creates diversity), we still do it respectfully. They build this kind of sharing into activities and even encourage us after a session ends or after an activity to talk with one another about things we shared, ask one another about our opinions on certain things, to keep the conversation, learning, and growth going.
• 3)The group is diverse. My group has many different personalities, and just to put this out there: NOT ALL RAs ARE BUBBLY AND BOLD BY NATURE, but we are encouraged to be warm and inviting. Some are shy and have fears of addressing big groups of people, but they are great in 1 on 1 situations. Other RAs are opinionated and bold and do well addressing situations that require immediate attention because they can make their voices heard and can get people’s attention to calm everyone down. Some RAs are laid back while others are by the book. We are also diverse in our abilities and disabilities; this brings perspective, not everyone in the group is completely able bodied. Different religions and cultures are represented as well as different sexualities. We could be more diverse racially but it all depends on who applies for the position; we don’t get a lot of minority applicants, but we try.

There is plenty more I could say about the RA role, but mainly, I encourage you to think about your RA or other RAs you know; it took a lot for many of us to get to the ‘move-in day RA,’ the one you see with a giant smile and bold presence. We care very much about each of you, and if you have met RAs and feel inspired to be one too I encourage you to do that! The Resident Advisor community is a community unlike any other.