I know it sometimes seems like you can’t get a break from your RA, but I’m going to be honest, we have lives. We are college students as well, and guess what? We do have lives. The reason why you see us so much is because you notice that we’re there; oddly enough, that’s our job. You can come to us in your times of need. We deal with issues. But you notice us, so you think you can’t get away.

And, to be honest, even if you don’t see us, we’re still there. I sleep in my room; I study in my room; I do everything in my room because I’m a homebody, so trust me, if something’s going down, I know no matter what.

On the other hand, we live there; we have lives; we known about you-- however, cut us some slack. Give your RAs a break if we don’t do something right away. It is in our mind; we haven’t forgotten. In truth, there might be nothing that we can do, but we’re working on it anyway. We don’t have to go above and beyond, but most of us do.

We’re not out to get you because if you’re caught, it’s because you’re being obvious. If you’re going to underage drink, how are we supposed to know unless you’re loud? With weed don’t do it on campus or at least we can smelt it because the smell with get to us. When it comes to getting in trouble, own up to it or it’s just going to get worse; such as the resident who said, “No, it’s the room next to me” when I knocked on the door for a quiet hour warning. To that resident, I knocked on your door because I know it’s you.

Recently, I had someone go off on me for forty-five minutes on everything that was wrong about RAs, and to be honest, we’re doing our best with a poor situation. I have fifty residents to be concerned about; I have a building, where the heaters turn up too much and there are mice running around; I have my other job, classes and my own sleep. Surprisingly, I have other stuff to be doing.

It doesn’t mean that I don’t care, but it does mean that going off on me isn’t going to get you far. Besides the fact that isn’t appropriate. Speaking to me in a calm manner will get you much further. For another person, I had to tell them to put on clothes because wearing underwear in the hallway isn’t acceptable. Arguing with me and then slamming the door isn’t going to get you anywhere besides me thinking of you as a toddler.

Please, residents, understanding: I’m doing my job. I’m enforcing the policies that are mostly common sense. I don’t want to be your enemy, and I will continue to think of myself as not your enemy-- even if you act like I’m out to get you. (By the way, I’m still not out to get you because I have bigger fish to fry.)

So, next time you’re angry at your RA, remember we’re just like you, except we actually have to deal with things they turn to crap.