College is by no means a cheap expenditure. In fact, it’s a rather costly investment that we, as students, are hoping will pay off upon graduation. Now heading into my senior year, it has forced me to look back on some life changing decisions that greatly impacted my overall college experience. One of the biggest decisions that I made was becoming a Resident Assistant (or RA.) A decision that was something I never saw in my foreseeable future, and I never thought that one day it would be me sitting at the ID station taking those awkward photos at freshman orientation for those cards you will only use during meal times.
Being an RA is more than just having a strong work ethic, or being disciplined in the matter of how you handle certain issues, it’s about having compassion towards others. Whether those are my specific residents or my co-workers (I struggled to say that, as all of them are dear friends of mine) compassion is a rare feature I feel is lacking in our country at this point, and something that needs to continue to strive, no matter how frustrating the society we live in becomes.
The number one misconception that I always hear when I tell people about becoming an RA is that my sole job is to get folks in trouble. Sure, I can see how an incoming freshman could look at me that way, but I always felt it was my job to immediately debunk such a theory. In fact, my job is to provide a safe environment, not just for my residents, but for the well-being of the entire student body as well. Yes, we have to enforce policy guidelines, but you know, it’s there to teach responsibility and help you all mature into fine young individuals. And, well, some of it is the law.
Enforcing policies aside, RA's are also beacons for those of you that need a lending ear whenever possible. I’ve had countless nights where I’ve sat up until around 3 a.m in the morning discussing life, relationships, and that early morning chem lab you never go too. That to me, is a good example of what an RA is and what that means to me. It always warms my heart, when I can help guide some young minds down a correct path, and give them pointers whenever necessary. Granted, most of my residents are freshman football players, and it takes a village sometimes to calm them down from being rowdy. But, at the same time, I understand where they are coming from, it’s their first year in college, and all of us RA’s have literally been there, so when residents try to tell us we don’t understand.
Believe me, we do.
But we, in our young adolescents, also had an RA that influenced us before, so we also understand the level of respect between ourselves and our residents. So if you think an RA’s sole purpose is to quote “get you in trouble” that is entirely untrue. We just want to make sure everyone is respecting not only their space, but the space of others as well.
Being an RA has open the door to many opportunities, and never-ending friendships. I think I can speak for our entire staff, when I say we all look forward to our weekly staff meetings, that, most of the time, go off the rails pretty quickly. Only to get reeled back in moments later by one of our pro-staff members (those would be our superiors.) I hesitate to use the word “staff” because technically, that’s what we are. When in conjunction I would peg us more as a family, because we have each other’s back when we need it. We all have that open line of communication, we all share programming and door decoration ideas together, and, most importantly, we all have compassion.
Sometimes the job does get stressful, and we need to take a step back, because the incidents that we have to respond to, are not always cut and dry. Those can be the hard ones, but we are trained to handle every situation with a pristine protocol that is designed to ensure the safety of everyone, including ourselves. There are moments when we disagree with a certain procedure (myself included) but we also know that’s what makes us a stronger, more united staff, by accepting the different perspective each of us bring to the table. But we also understand these procedures are put in place for a reason, and we know it’s all in the name of safety.
I suppose, that’s what always has made me so humbled to be on this staff, because we all can embrace the outer depths of a challenge, and problem solve together. It’s not an easy job, and it requires a lot of your attention. So if you plan on heading into this field (and I encourage that you, at least, seek it out) be prepared for many late nights, countless phone calls, and a plethora of fun and exciting stories.
An RA can be one of the most impactful human beings on a college campus, we are a resource, so I always suggest utilizing our knowledge whenever possible. We never want to scare anyone away, and we will always do our best to give you the most realistic answers possible. Will we always be right? Of course not, but that’s okay. Life is about learning, and while you, as residents, learn from us RA's, we too, learn from you as well.
This journey of being an RA is slowly coming to an end for me, but I’m thankful that I have at least had an impact on some of the students over these last three years. I’m happy to say that one of my former residents is set to be an RA this coming year, which makes me ecstatic, as I know he will do great things for our staff. Much like all of us RA's, former or current, have done in the past.
Hey, it’s the little things that count. Oh, and I still have that awkward photo ID card from my first orientation. It's a nice reminder that the person in that the photo is not the same one writing this article. What'd ya know?
