After 2 years of being an RA and going into my 3rd, I would consider myself to be a seasoned RA. I've had my fair share of tears shed in my room, late-night drunken visits, and "I need to move out because I can't stand my roommate" conversations from residents to last me a lifetime.
But I LOVE it. I LOVE getting to help my residents.
The only thing I regret is that I don't always get to make connections with all of my residents. I really do try to connect with everyone but the reality is that I only get really good connections with those who make even the smallest of efforts on their end.
When an RA has upwards of 60 people to supervise, it's impossible to get good relationships with all of them when most of them don't attempt to interact with their RA at all. So, if you are one of those people who feels like they don't have a good relationship with your RA, I'm sorry.
But please, there are a few reasons I would encourage you to interact with your RA.
1. You're paying for us.
Whether you like it or not, a big chunk of the money you pay for your room goes right into our paycheck and into the funding for our programs. You might as well go to those socials; you're technically paying for them.
2. Ignoring us isn't doing either of us any favors.
Sometimes it's hard to remember that your RA is a student too. Ignoring your RA's attempts to socialize with you is taken personally because we aren't just trying to do our job, we are actually trying to take time out of our crazy schedule to make a connection with you. We are not going to try to force any kind of relationship with you but when you ignore us, it doesn't just hurt from an RA standpoint, it hurts from a personal standpoint as well.
3. Even if you don't want to see us, you can't avoid us.
No matter how hard you might try to get rid of us, it's our job to keep in touch with you. Even though we might not want to knock on your door because we know you're the room that will try to shut the door in our face, we have to anyway. You might as well just embrace it. It makes everything a lot easier.
4. It's logistically impossible to make one-sided connections.
I've had residents in the past who have complained because they didn't believe that I had made an effort to reach out to them when I never saw them during any one of my socials or open door hours. I have 45 residents and I know others who have more than 60 residents. It is impossible for one student to track down 45 different people on 45 different schedules every month. Trust me when I say we do our best to get to everyone on our own but it is much easier for residents to come to us than it is for us to come to them.
5. We have a ton to offer.
Okay, we can't give you a car but we do go through a ton of training to make sure that we know what to do when you guys come to us with problems. Take advantage of that!
6. We care so much about you and your well-being.
We really do care about all of our residents. For us, being an RA is not just a job, it's a lifestyle.
So please, don't shut your door in our faces, say hi to us when you see us on campus, visit our open door hours and all that jazz.
