The letters “RA” come in many shapes and sizes. From a
research assistant to RA sushi, it’s easy to get lost in world of R/A
possibilities.
For me, those two little letters took on a much greater
meaning: over 1,000 residents, countless hours patrolling the halls, wonderful
staff members, and experience after experience of the daily life of a Resident
Assistant.
Living on campus for just shy of three years taught me a lot
in the realm of college freshmen; occurrences that seem to never escape my
memory. Most nights of homework and studying turned into counseling and
coaching but I can’t say I didn't enjoy every minute. Well…mostly.
The tables seemed to turn though as I returned for my third
and final year. As the residents got younger and I got older, our separation
seemed to span more than just age. Their likes and dislikes were different,
they were parented differently, their biggest focus was their image and mine
was graduation; all around things just seemed…odd. I ignored it though and
continued with my duties. Slowly but surely, the separation continued to grow
as I grew tired of the antics.
I turned from the mentor and friend to the regulator. My
claim to fame was handing out 12 MIPs in one evening with the assistance of
local police. I was no longer a mentor or shoulder to cry on but transformed
into an ear to scream at and a policy watchdog. It was as if, overnight,
everything changed. I wasn't sure what happened, but now I was only good at
encouraging messy residents to take out their trash or do their laundry; the
meaningfulness escaped right before my eyes. Conduct was the most exciting time
of my day, but the most detrimental times for the residents. I wasn't a mom. I
wasn't a cop. So what happened? My residents no longer needed me and they sure as hell didn't want me either. The pettiness continued and I decided to shut my
door. I thought, “I’m too old for this…I don’t know how to handle college
freshmen drama anymore.” I sat down, pondered about my options, found a new place
to live, and quit. Moving on to bigger and better; hanging up my badge and naïve
memories of those reckless drunken nights.
Lo, this is a really interesting story and thanks for sharing it with us! My friend also was an RA this last year. He was really excited to be one, and then about halfway through the year, his residents just drove him up the wall with petty pranks and threats against him, and he also quit. It makes me kind of sad that residents would do that, and also about the antics that caused you to distance from it as well. It is really interesting how you were able to watch the transformation happen and how you have this insight into how you changed.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about your experience being an RA. I am currently a freshman and I live in the dorms. I've never seen an RA as a "bad guy", nor someone I could turn to for advice. Thanks for sharing this, it's nice to know what it's like on the other side of the spectrum!
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