Lemme start off with saying this as an RA, I DON'T want to get you in trouble. Getting you in “trouble" or catching you doing stuff you're not supposed to be doing is the last thing I want to deal with.
I don't think you understand how much paper work RA's have to to do when we deal with stuff. Not only do we have to deal with you and the situation, but sometimes we have to get our supervisor involved. This is protocol and typically we have to write up a long incident report after as well.
This usually happens when you get to go back to bed at 2am. Once you leave, we're still up for another hour or do writing a paper about what you did or didn't do. This is no fun, like we want to go back to bed too.
Avoiding getting in trouble is simple. Be quiet, don't come back to your residence hall noticeably intoxicated, and have common sense.
Being quiet. These two words are all you need to know. Quiet hours are placed for a reason, just follow them. We won't get you in trouble or catch you doing anything if we don't get any noise complaints or can hear you from the hall. As soon as we get a noise complaint from your room, we have to come to your room.
Obviously that includes us knocking on your door, which can lead to us seeing alcohol and from there it's game over.
We wouldn't have had to even known you were doing stuff in room, until we got a noise complaint from another resident in the first place. It's a simple win win situation if you are breaking quiet hours. You don't get caught and we aren't getting a call about something we don't want to deal with in the wee hours of the morning.
You can do whatever without being caught and we don't have to write you up for it. Amazing.
Another thing. If you're obviously drunk, DON'T COME BACK TO YOUR DORM. This may seem obvious, but it happens more than you would expect. If you aren't able to even walk or hold yourself up, then crash at a friends house.
Front desk workers are trained to notice intoxicated residents when they walk into the residence hall. Then they call the RA on call, and they're the people who have to deal with you. We also look like the bad guys, when in reality we aren't the ones who caught you in the first place.
Over all, don't be stupid. Just use common sense. Be nice to the RA's. We don't want to get you in trouble trust me, it's just more work for us. If we tell you to be quiet, just do it. Rude comments and looks are not necessary. We're just here to make sure you're safe and enjoying your college experience the way we have and want to as well.
