School is getting ready to kick back into high gear and that means all of those lovely RAs out there are training for ten hours a day for two weeks straight and doing everything they can to make returning and new students feel welcome in their residence halls.
Being an RA is challenging. The roommate conflicts, three AM fire alarms, constantly refreshing the bulletin boards and door decs, and tons and tons of paperwork. I think it goes without saying that this job can be taxing, but it can also be pretty rewarding and exciting.
One of my favorite parts of being an RA is meeting so many different people all living under the same roof. It's pretty neat if you think about it.
Even though there is usually diversity in the residence halls, that doesn't mean that you won't have at least someone that is going to fit into these pre-determined roles that their fore-students have left empty and ready to be filled.
If you are or have ever been an RA, you'll know what I mean when I say that these are ten types of students you will meet in your residence halls:
1.The resident that refuses to come to your programs/floor meetings
We've all had this resident. You try your best to help them come out of their shell and meet new people and they just down-right refuse all of your efforts. Try not to take it personally; it just happens sometimes.
2. The elusive resident
They won't come to your events, refuse to reply to emails and texts, seem to always be sleeping or not in their room when you stop by... Do they even live in the res hall? You'll probably never know. Their roommates don't even know.
3. The resident that gets excited when you stop by or want to hang out
Sometimes it can be really hard to get your residents to go to things with you but then there's those one or two that you know are always down to do whatever and you can have a great time with. Being an RA isn't all about being an RA. It's great to make those personal connections with residents and become friends with them, too.
4. The resident pledging for a Frat
If you go to school on a campus with a large number of Greek Life organizations, there will be multiple people in the residence halls that are trying to go Greek. For the guys especially, pledge week involves a lot of parties and drinking until they become sick. Don't bring it back to my hall, please. (:
6. The resident that ALWAYS seems to be at the library
Advice to all incoming students that are super stressed because of the homework they have or are anticipating: It really is OK to take a nap sometimes or leave the library to go to a campus event and have some fun.
6. The resident that seems to always know what's going on in the res hall
Honestly, how do they find out that so-and-so from the sixth floor came in drunk and vomited everywhere? How do they know these things when it was 2 AM and they weren't there??? An enigma.
7. The resident that stops by like... a lot.
Of course, I'm going to help you. BUT. If it's super late at night and it's something that could've waited, you could tell me the next day or just send me a text/email. Or if its super important and can't wait, there is always another RA that's on call literally waiting to help residents that need it. Let's not knock on our RA's door at 3 AM if it's not necessary. Occasionally, we also do human things such as sleep.
8. The resident that for some reason unbeknownst to you, doesn't like you
As long as you've tried your best to make them feel welcome and included, sometimes you just don't jive with people. For one reason or another, they just don't like you. You've got to continue doing your job but know that its OK and it just happens. They can be assigned a different RA if they really can't deal with you for whatever reason.
9. The resident that can't get along with any roommate they have
Like the one above, sometimes two people just don't jive and thats OK. But. Can we just be civil adults please.
10. The resident that is your unofficial favorite
It might not be the best idea to have a "favorite" because ya know.. biases and all of that. But its hard not to love the residents that always want to help you decorate, want to hang out with you if you're on-call or at the front desk, and always comes to your programs. Those are our favorite kind of people.
Before I was an RA and I was just a resident, I was definitely #6. What type of resident were you?
