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What Our RAs Say About the Job ...
At the end of the academic year, one of our Resident Directors asked her staff to reflect on their year as an RA -- what they learned, experienced, and gained from the job. Here's some of what they shared... |
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1. What has been your best experience with the RA job? My best experience with the RA job was when one of my residents took time out of their day to share with me some serious thoughts that they were having about living the college life. He came to me because I was his RA and knew the things he was going through. He wanted to be more active on the floor, he wanted to make a contribution, and he wanted to affect his community. I was thrilled to be able to talk to him about my experiences and my role as an RA and just encourage him to continue to work hard to get more involved. And it was my position as RA that allowed me to be there for him. I think that the best experience for me, has been making a difference in people's lives. Whether or not they appreciate it at the time, I think that I've helped many of the residents in our building. Even if it was sending them to the hospital, I still think that in the long run, they will appreciate it. Also, knowing that you've helped someone, even with the smallest thing, is a great feeling. My best experience with the RA job has clearly been the simple day-to-day involvement with so many resident’s lives. The joy of the work is simply seeing students grow with each week. They learn and develop different characteristics than they had before. It’s very enjoyable to watch. I would say that the best experience with the RA job was having people on my floor treat me as more of a friend than an authority figure. At the beginning it seemed as if they were almost afraid of me, and that I was just here to get them in trouble, but slowly the residents learned that I am also a college student, and I am someone that can relate to them. It makes me very happy when people come and talk to me not only when they have a general question, but to just talk like friends. Being an RA this year has been such a blessing in my life ... I feel the best experience I had as an RA is making friends with a great bunch of girls. These girls are not only my resident but they have become my friends and I am very grateful for that. They befriended their RA and wanted to hangout with me, which was a huge relief for me. 2. What is the most important thing this job has taught you? The most important thing this job has taught me is the importance of recognizes differences. However, recognizes differences are not to single people out but to encourage diversity. I’ve met a lot of people because during the course of this job, and each one has been unique in some way. It’s been a challenge of mine to know each person’s uniqueness. I think I will take that mentality anywhere I go. 3. What did you learn from working on this staff that you can take with you to another job? I think that the most important thing this job has taught me, is how to stand up for what I believe in, and speak what I feel. Before this job, I never would have told somebody that what they were saying was rude, or incorrect. Now, however, I am able to do that, and it has made a difference in my life. The most important thing that this job has taught me is that I can be a leader. I have believed that I would be, but now I really feel that I am. I have put a lot of personal effort into trying to be a better person, and I think that I have benefited most in my confidence that I know I can lead. I think that the RA job has taught me how to think quickly on my feet in any situation that I am put into, and to be able to adjust for that situation to have a positive outcome. It has also taught me to use more creativity to solve a problem or to do something fun with my floor. The most important thing the RA job has taught me me is time management. This job is 24/7 job and you have to be ready for anything. Being an RA I have learned how to make the most of my time and also how to schedule a list of 'to do's' in priority. I thing that with this experience, I will be able to continue to get involved in organizations and with work and still be able to manage my time very well. The most important thing I have learned in this job is that everyone grows and learns on their on time table and you have to help them wherever they are, and that’s ok. I learned the importance of being available to help in anyway. Throughout this past year, I don’t think there has been a single instance where someone on the staff expressed a need for some help and no one came through. I was always extremely thankful when someone came through for me and I always enjoyed coming through for someone else. I think this mentality can be used in any job environment. I think that I've learned how to work with people that I am different from. I think that I am different from many of our staff members, in some pretty important ways. Yet, I've learned how to work with them, and find something in everyone of them that I enjoy. From this staff, I have learned how helpful it is to be polite in working relationships. We have been a very low drama and cooperative staff all year. I wouldn’t say that we are the best of friends, but we all respect one another’s differences and assist one another as a staff. That has been a very positive and insightful experience that I will surely take with me. I think that this RA staff has taught me a lot about communication and teamwork, and that I can take these skills to other jobs in the future. Without communication and teamwork, our hall would run a lot less smoothly. These elements are critical in every job, but we really implemented them this year. Along with that, I think that I have better learned how to work with a variety of different people, and to utilize our individual skills to have the most successful outcome. By being on this staff I learned how important it si to work together and trust whom you are working with. I am glad that there wasn't a lot of gossip or distrust on this staff an we were teammates. I think that having mutual respect and willingness to helpo out at anytime has kept this staff together and very fun to be on. Everyone is so different, be aware of their strengths and weaknesses, knowing when they can help you, and when you need to realize that just isn’t their strong suit and you need to help them and not expect so much. 4. What do you do differently now when the pressure is on that you didn’t do before you were an RA? I write everything down. Everything. I've learned to stay calm. Things will happen, and freaking out about them doesn't help anything. Now, in crisis situations, I can keep my calm, and just handle the situation, when before, I would be VERY stressed and worried. Now as an RA, I feel that I remain much more calm when the pressure is on. I continue to have stressful events and issues that come up in daily life, yet I feel more confident not that I know the answer or that I can solve the problem, but that I will find the answer and I will solve the problem. It is a much more comforting feeling to have, especially when difficult times arise. I feel that this year I have developed my skills to stay calm under a pressure situation, and to handle a situation well even though I may feel nervous about what I’m doing. This happened earlier in the year when I came upon a drinking situation, and I kind of amazed myself by the way I was able to keep myself composed outside during the situation, even though I felt nervous inside. I have learned the seriousness of issues and I am much more aware of the harm people can do to themselves. Ask for help. 5. What is one thing that you wish you could have handled better looking back at the job experience? I think I could have taken a more active role in showing the way for the freshman on the floor instead of letting them find their own niche. There’s always that wonder, what if I had introduced so and so to that person I knew. I wish that I could have handled managing my time better. There are so many things that I wish I could have done with this job, but because I was too busy, or I MADE myself to busy, I never got around to doing them. I would handle that differently for sure if given another chance. I wish that I could have better prepared myself for the differences that this year would bring from the previous year. I felt prepared for most aspects, however, I don’t know that I was expecting so much of a difference in the residents. The resident’s general attitude and personalities changed a lot. I could have better planned for the uniqueness of every resident and how that would also change the floor community. Looking back, I wish that I could have established a more strict quiet hours rule on my floor. I think that at the beginning I was afraid to document the situation, and then the residents got the impression that what they were doing was ok, whereas had I been more strict from the beginning they would have really learned what is considered acceptable and what is not. Things have improved with quiet hour issues throughout the year, but I still wish I had established that earlier. I wish that i would have been more program orientated on my floor. Life is busy and time runs out, but I can't use those excuses. After looking back, I think my floor could have been a better community of friends if there was more effort on my part ot get them together. 6.In ten years, what will stick out most in your mind about being an RA? I think that the people I've met will stick out most in my mind in ten years. My RA job has given me the opportunity to work with, and meet, some pretty outstanding people that have had great impacts on my life. I think that they ways they have impacted, or changed me, will stay with me forever. In ten years, I will most remember the times and memories that I shared getting to know my residents. I have had so much time to share and learn their stories, and it has meant so much to me. I feel that because of this, I will always cherish the position that I was fortunate enough to be able to do and the people that I met because of it. In 10 years I think that I will best remember the staff and the good times that we had together. The RA staff is a wonderful group of people, and it was a great experience to have the opportunity to work with them, and I believe that those experiences will stick out most in my mind. The times of long nights hanging out, watching movies, watching Dawson's and Felicity and eating at chomp. The long talks with residents about boys and future dreams. Great memories that will forever be etched in my mind. Site Links: selection timeline RA 2005 - 2006 job description MA 2005 - 2006 job description (coming soon) |
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