Being an resident assistant is quite an experience. You are responsible for a whole floor of eager new students, and you get to be a major part of their lives over the school year. Most students do not realize how much work goes into being a (hopefully good) RA. There are long nights and awkward conversations all of the time. It is a hard job, but it is an incredibly rewarding job, and here are the things you should know about it:

A lot of new students have preconceptions about RA's being the police on there floor. They often think that our sole purpose is to bust them and get them in trouble. I am here to tell you that we do not want to get you in trouble.

Seriously, we don’t. We are students too and we understand that a lot of the time students make mistakes. We are here to help you and provide the support you need to get through those mistakes. Don’t take that as a free pass though. Sometimes we do have to make reports and you may get in trouble. It is just one of our responsibilities and not something we take any pleasure in doing.

Since a lot of residents are scared of their RA, they avoid us at all costs. Even a simple hi in the hallway seems scary. I really cannot explain why this is, but it is often true. I can tell you that you can hang out with your RA.

A big part of our job is to get to know you so we can plan events that you will enjoy and so we can help make your college experience better. So next time you see your RA in the cafeteria or while you're walking to class, say hi and start a conversation. We will seriously appreciate it.

RA's get trained to deal with a lot of stuff, and I mean A LOT OF STUFF. Even with that though, we don’t know how to fix everything.

This is especially true when it come to real technical questions like setting up a TV or triple-encrypting your Wi-Fi password. We can deal with things, and if you have issues, it is more than okay to go to your RA. But if we just don’t know how to fix your fish tank, try not to be too mad.

This is a bit similar to the last one. You have to remember that RA's have lives outside of the residence halls, so we can’t always be around.

One of the biggest complaints I get is not being in my room at all times of the day. We all have classes. We all are a part of clubs, teams, organizations and what feels like a hundred different things, so we cannot be available every second of the day.

These are just a few things that I would want my residents to know. There are dozens of other things I could tell you, but this article is honestly already long (thank you if you are still reading). If you do have questions though, talk to your RA. At the end of the day, we are here to help you, and we are all dedicated to making your college experience a little bit easier.