Dear Resident,

I am beyond excited that I'm your RA for hopefully this year. You will constantly surprise me with your accomplishments, amaze me by having deep conversations at night and hopefully tell me that I had some sort of impact on your life. But there are some things that I may not say directly to you this year that I want each and every one of you to know.

I want the best for you. I know it may not always seem that way from your perspective, but I want to assure you that I want you all to learn from your mistakes, and I want to help you through that process if you let me. I may not say it every day, but I want you to succeed, and I love watching you all grow from your experiences in the hall.

Please be safe this year. I mean this honestly; I don't want anything bad or negative to happen to any of you. You all mean so much to me; even though at this point, I've only known you for a couple days, I still care about each and every one of you. There is no worse feeling than knowing something bad has happened to someone you care about.

Make a positive impact. Whatever that means to you, I want you all to make a positive impact somewhere in some aspect of your life. Everything that we do affects others, and I want you to leave this year going back with something beneficial, with something to be proud of.

Learn your community. I know this may seem like a daunting task, but please talk to at least one person who doesn't live on your floor. You will be amazed at what you can learn just by talking to someone for 15 minutes. The true college experience is connecting and continuously learning from others.

Be involved. Just by joining a club or an organization, you will gain so many connections, friends and opportunities. My programs are here for you to learn but also interact with people who live in the hall whom you may not know. Plus, you get free food and don't have to spend money.

I hope that you are successful this year, and I hope you know how much I care about you all,

Sincerely,

Your RA