I am currently a senior at a small university in Hackettstown, NJ. I am highly involved on campus including being a Resident Assistant (RA) for my University. Many times, when I tell people my role on campus they quickly shoot back with, “What’s that?” or my personal favorite, “Oh so you’re the fun police”. Yes, I have heard it all before and been called almost every name under the sun by intoxicated residents or just plain uneducated ones at that. I would like to believe that my job holds more than just the title of “fun sucker” and now I feel is my opportunity to explain to my faithful followers what struggles some RAs go through on the daily.

1. Getting little to no sleep…ever.

2. Doing roommate mediation! (AKA helping full-grown adults be considerate of the other humans they share a confined living space with)

3. Attempting to comfort someone you don’t really know that well.

4. Seeing underage residents at the liquor store attempting to buy alcohol to consume in your building.

5. Planning a program and promoting it to look like so much fun! And then no one attends so you're stuck doing the activity by yourself.

6. Constant fire alarms since your residents don’t know how to cook popcorn…or easy mac…or anything for that matter.

7. Doing massive amounts of paperwork that, at the end of the day, you’re not even sure it matters.

8. Attempting to comprehend what your intoxicated resident is conveying to you through slurred speech at 3:00 in the morning

9. Frantically putting up door tags the night before they are due.

10. All while knowing some drunk sophomore will inevitably rip them down without a care.

11. Not knowing what to do when your resident knocks on your door wearing nothing but Santa socks and a bow in their hair…and I mean nothing.

12. Reminding yourself that the free room and board is all worth it in the end.

The next time you see your RA in the library or in the dining hall, give them a smile or a high five. They may need it more than you think