11 Things Your RA Wants You To Know Before Move-In Day

1. Your dorm room is your new home, but don’t bring all of home with you.

(I’m looking at you freshman) We, the under appreciated move-in day staff, have to move all of your stuff up all those stairs to your 5th floor room, but you will be the one moving it out come May, so do yourself a favor, and budget your space wisely.

2. College is a time to have fun, but also to grow into your newfound freedom, and that means consequences.

It’s college! There’s a time for partying, and there’s a time for studying… so put the cheap beer away and keep yourself hydrated, because I am not cleaning up your mistakes in the morning.

3. Don’t wait for free food—come to your dorm’s hall activities.

Your residence life staff has put a lot of hours and time into providing you with interesting activities, so you should stop buy! PS: You may or may not get free food.

4. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, but budget your time wisely.

Every year, we see so many freshman try to meet everyone, join every club, win every award, etc. Remember that you're also at college to learn, so devote as much time to your schoolwork as you do to your social life!

5. Please don’t bring the party home with you.

We know that there are parties. We know that you will go to those parties. And probably, you will either be or have a friend that is intoxicated by something, but please remember that you live in a community space. We have to clean up when you puke in the communal shower and deal with a floor of angry residents who are all woken up by your unintentional stomping like a drugged-up elephant.

6. We can be your friend, but we also have a job to do.

RAs are students, so we go through the same craziness that you encounter every day, and we have a normal life outside of work, just like any other functioning adult would. We love parties, we watch Netflix way too much, and we want to talk to you about the cute professor or the adorable frat guys, but we also are the official enforcers of the rules, so know that we have a job to do. If you break the rules, it’s our job to enforce them and to make sure that our residence halls are a safe place for students to live.

7. Your room is not going to be perfect.

A residence hall is not a hotel. There are going to be chips on the wall, scuffs on the floor, broken cabinets, and clogged toilets. We will do our best to make the community an excellent place to live, but with 200+ college students to take care of, things can get a a little messy.

8. Communicate with your parents.

Your parents want to know how you are doing. You’re an adult now, but if you keep your parents in the dark, or even worse, lie to them about what you’re up to, we don’t like fielding calls from angry parents asking why you got a D in your first semester class, especially when we can’t do much about it.

9. Go to bed.

This one should be pretty self-explanatory, but basically, you need your sleep. Going to bed at 3 a.m. every night isn’t really good for your health, or your education, and we can definitely hear you stomping up and down the hallways at 2 in the morning, so please, let us get our beauty rest. We need it just as much, (maybe more), than you.

10. We are student workers.

RA’s want to be available for our residents as much as we can, but it can be hard, especially considering that we are students first, workers second. We have schoolwork, extracurriculars, sports, in addition to our RA duties, and trying to maintain a social life. (LOL what social life?)

11. We are here for YOU.

RA’s are first and foremost here to try and make the residence hall community a better place, and to maintain an amazing standard for the entire community, but we are also here to help you with the inevitable ups and downs that arise, because college is tough. You are going to have bad days, bad grades, relationship troubles, and friend drama, and we want to help you. Don’t be afraid to come talk to your RA and see what we can do for you! We are students, just like you, and in many cases, we’ve been through the same things you have, and we want to share our knowledge!