Let’s set the scene: you pull up to your school on Freshman (or First-Year, if that’s what you prefer) move-in day, and you see organized chaos. There’s a mass of other children and their parents trying to unload their cars and get out of the way, and somewhere between your car and your room you’re bound to run into someone who seems older and wiser; at the very least, they seem to know where they’re going.
You’ve just met your RA (Resident Assistant).
Over the course of the next couple of weeks, this person will either become someone who you cling on to like an auxiliary parent, or you’ll roll your eyes every time they try to coax you into one of their “events” with food (though, let’s be honest, the free food will probably work 70% of the time).
There are those that will move off-campus or into upper-class dorms and the idea of student life will slowly fade from significance, there are those who will join student life and be those people helping direct new students or trying their damnedest to connect with older students, and there is everything in between.
No matter where your college experience takes you, don’t be so quick to write off the important role that a robust student life can play.
Skyfactor, a research organization focused on the student experience found that the effects of a student’s relationship with their RA can not only create a more supportive living environment, but also helps students create relationships with other people, and leads to an overall more satisfactory campus experience.
The most important thing for students – old and new – to keep in mind is the fact that these are people who have volunteered to care for other people. It is easy to cynically point out that there are some who do it for a paycheck, but that is far from the norm.
Moreover, one’s motivation for taking a position does not mitigate the impact that the individual can have or how they will perform. On the contrary, of the approximately 300,000 people who Skyfactor surveyed, only an aggregate 6% reported being moderately to very dissatisfied with their RAs work in connecting with them.
Being an RA is a lot of additional work to add on to the already hectic schedules of college students in an age where we are expected to leave college with a degree, work experience, volunteer experience, general life experience and full knowledge of how to be functional adults.
These kids care about you. Your RA may not be able to solve all of your problems, but at the very least they can point you to someone who can.
Speaking as someone who has been involved in student life since my days at boarding school, I can say without a doubt that not tapping into your RA not only causes you to waste a great potential resource, but we miss out on those connections too.
So come to an event. Entertain us when we try to spark a conversation with you. Come knock on our door every once in a while.
I promise we don’t bite.
