If you had asked me when I was a freshman if I considered being an RA, I would have looked at you like you were crazy. Now I consider it to have been one of the best decisions I ever made.

Did it totally suck when I had to write people up or call public safety and send someone to the hospital? Absolutely. That was the last thing I ever wanted to do. But I loved everything else about it.

Being an RA matured me. I learned about priorities and how to get over FOMO. When I first began, I was so upset when I was working and my friends were out at parties. I thought I was going to miss out on making friends. I thought the only way I could really make friends was by going out and partying with them. I was wrong. I didn't become friends with all of my close friends by going to parties with them, I became close with them by spending time just hanging out with them and being myself.

I wanted to be an RA because I wanted to feel like I was part of something. Weird thing to want to do to be part of something, right? But I choose being an RA because I would be part of a team where everyone was doing the same thing. Everyone had each other's backs and understood each other. It gave me an opportunity to spend time with the most involved and genuinely good and smart people on campus. These were people that stood out to faculty.

I knew that becoming an RA would force us as a team to get to know each other. As someone who sometimes gets anxious around new people, I knew it would be a great opportunity to allow people to see the real me. I was forced to get to know new people and spend hours and hours with them. This allowed me to show my true colors and get people to see me the way I want to be seen.

Being an RA helped me prioritize what was important to me, show my true colors, and develop relationships I never would have without it.