Another school year is coming to an end, which for Resident Assistants (RAs) means room checkouts, room checkouts, more room checkouts, and good-bye's to our current residents. I think I can speak on behalf of nearly all of my fellow RAs when I say this: there are some of you who I truly will not miss. It's not because you did not respect me, or because you broke rules, no...I can live with that. Its because you didn't realize that my intentions were never to purposely get you in trouble. Never. Not once. I know its hard to believe but it's true, and it's things like that which make this job challenging.

My staff and I this year tried our best to be on the same level as our residents, and not to toot our own horn but I think we did a really good job at doing so. This year compared to others, our residents actually listened to us. They listened to us when we asked them to stop playing golf in the hallway, when we asked them to shut their door when they were listening to loud music, and when we told them to shower with only their own two feet in the shower. We danced together, watched movies together, and we ate dinner together. We managed to develop friendships with these residents and guess how we did that? By giving them the same respect we as RAs hoped to get in return.

We never yelled at them nor did we write them up without a good reason. We didn't ignore them or treat them as if they didn't live just down the hall. Instead, we said hi as we passed them in the hallway, we joked around with one another, and most importantly, the RAs in my building did our very best to let our residents know that we were never out to get them. Open communication made our building fun, home-like, and an overall great place to live.

If I had one wish as an RA, I wish that people understood that this job is 24/7. Even if I'm not on duty and my door is shut, and I am fast asleep, I am still getting up if someone knocks on my door as if someone is literally dead in the hallway at 7 AM; in reality they just needed to get back into their room because their door was locked when they got out of the shower. I really love sleep, but I also love this job. I may not be the most crafty RA and my residents can 100% attest to that, but I am there for them no matter what. Yeah, I'm even there for you, resident that never acknowledges me even when we are the only two people in the hallway; you'll still get a post-it note with an inspirational quote on it.

This job is tough, but it's worth it and though it's a challenge trying to ignore the bubble that RAs know all too well, we understand we can never truly break out of it. Instead, we try our best to work with it. A current RA at Keuka says, "...living in a 'fishbowl', you have to be mentally conscious of everything you do and how that reflects on your role as an RA. The last two years of being an RA have been exhausting, but I would do it all over again..."

I'm not sure if students outside of the Residence Life world realize this, but RAs are students, too. Not only that, but we actually have lives JUST LIKE YOU. There is such a stigma that goes along with the RA position and some of us are trying our best to change that. A current RA at Keuka says, "A lot of people have openly expressed to me that RA's are not fun and that they feel uncomfortable talking about certain subjects around me. I have also gotten the 'you're an RA?!' I would have never thought that, because I go to the bar and have fun..."

Despite how tough this job can be, the bubble we are forced to live in, and the rules we are asked to follow, I am so thankful for my staff and the friends I've made along the way. We are not simply just a group of people supposedly out to ruin your lives. A Resident Director at Keuka says, "You'll make some of the greatest friends and that bond will never be broken because no one can ever truly understand #raprobs like your staff." A current RA says, "Your staff becomes your biggest support system and some of the best friends you could ever ask for. Let them help you through your struggles and be there to cheer you on through your accomplishments." When a current RA was asked what he wished he would have known before becoming an RA at Keuka, he said, "I would have loved to know how much of a family you become when joining ResLife, it would have made the choice easier to make."

Though the duty nights and weekends drag on, and some residents dislike like you for no apparent reason, and there is a huge stigma around this job, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. When asked what she wished she knew before becoming an RA, someone said, "How hard it would be to say goodbye to your residents after the year is over." I have to agree with her. With another year coming to an end and residents preparing to take finals and leave for the summer, I say this:

to those residents who respected us, took part in our programs, acknowledged me when I said hi to you, and never gave me a hard time - thank you.To those residents that never did any of those things - see ya.