What’s an RA?
Official definition of RA: Resident Advisor; a student typically responsible for supervising and assisting fellow students in a dorm
Better definition of RA: some of the best people you’ll get to interact with, someone to be a friend and mentor
Especially this semester, I’ve enjoyed making friends with RA’s in my dorm and realized how cool they are.
Yeah, some people only interact with RA’s to get information about logistics and stuff, but they’re there for so much more than that.
True story: My RA on Lewis 6 this year is double majoring in English and Spanish. A few nights ago I had 3 essays to work on, so I asked her for advice in organizing my writing. She was super helpful, and also motivated me to keep working hard. So now I know that if I ever need help with essays, I can always ask her for help. She’s also super fun to talk to and I can tell she is genuinely interested in her residents’ lives. One of my fave people honestly.
Another fun RA thing: On highland quad this year, we have teatime on Tuesday nights, which consists of a baked snack and tea hosted by an RA in their dorm. It’s totally not mandatory to attend, but my roommates and I enjoy stopping by for a few minutes as a study break. Last week though, the RA who usually bakes for it let me help with the baking, so that was pretty fun.
All this being said, it is the RA’s job to enforce rules, and that makes a lot of freshman a bit nervous around their RAs. I know I was last year, before getting to know my commons RA better and seeing how she was really not scary and had great advice for school and life. RA’s are not out to get you, but if you do something against the rules and they see it, they are required to report it.
Expert tip: make friends with your RA so you never get written up!
(This post may or may not have been influenced by my RA)