Developing a community, impacting people, and making friends is probably the best part of working in Residential Life, especially if you are a people person like me. However, there is much more to do that is equally important. Let’s look into it!
- Duty:?This is a significant component of the job that makes it unique. Being on duty/on-call rotation means being one of the points of contact during a set period of time within the on-campus community. RAs are supposed to be on the lookout at night while going on rounds in the residence halls to ensure residents are safe and follow the rules. Every night there must be a group of RAs on duty that respond to emergencies/assist campus safety. Senior RAs are on a secondary-level on-call duty rotation (a week-long) who check-in the RAs on duty and support them during their shifts. SRAs are also supposed to help Professional Staff and Campus Safety during the day. It is challenging to be an SRA on duty because of the different emergencies to respond to: in a week within the on-campus community, there are different types of issues that an SRA has to deal with. What I find the hardest in delicate situations is knowing how to proceed and react in the best way by putting what I learned during the summer training before the beginning of the semester. It is essential to know how to support a person to make them feel comfortable, understand what resources to take advantage of when a problem occurs, and try not to stress long-term. Some situations are overwhelming, but witnessing and dealing with those shapes you as an individual helps you understand people and their differences & open your mind, and mature. In life, no matter if it is at work or with friends and family, a person will always have to be with people.
- Mentorship:?an SRA is also a mentor to residents and other RAs. I need to show I am an experienced leader and provide support guidance. It is fun to be a resource for the RAs, make their job more exciting, and show leadership. However, sometimes because I am a student and I have the same age more or less, it is not easy to understand when to act as a peer or as a supervisor.
- Personal & Professional Development:?my supervisor, the Area Coordinator, who is a mentor to me, helps me, and the staff members always motivate us to improve and perform better at work through fantastic individual meetings that are a 360 degrees experience. The Area Coordinator plans activities, challenges, reflective questions to brainstorm new ideas, improve on the job overall in every task performed, and also supports us with personal life issues. My supervisor is, for me, a role model, a mentor, an older brother who I am learning to be a person by watching him and is someone I would always go to if I struggle with something. He definitely makes me love my job much more, and he also created a fun community within his assigned staff to keep us motivated and committed to the job. All the development opportunities and training promoted by my supervisor and the professional staff keep me enthusiastic, give me new ideas and ways to improve my performance and make it flexible by bringing new initiatives.?
- Administration:?this last aspect, as in most jobs, is mainly about hard skills. Complete paper works, reports, learn how to use computer systems & applications, and create posters & floor decorations, among others. As an SRA, I also work in the office to support the professional staff. As in every job, it is an essential part of the position, as an employee needs experience in more practical duties. I enjoy the various administrative tasks in Housing and Residence Life is that those are flexible: you don’t just sit in front of the computer all day, but you interact and work with people. You constantly walk around the halls to check on rooms and residents. I never struggle with administrative tasks; I enjoy completing those.?
Now that I have listed and explained my duties as a Senior Resident Advisor and why I love working in Residence Life, what are my goals for the next semester? First of all, I want to continue doing what has been working well in the Fall. Then I aim at building a better community on my floor after the challenging past semester, learn more administrative duties when in the office, program new exciting events, better address challenging situations when on duty (I believe you are constantly improving at those), and finally bring new initiatives & innovate in what I do such as new activities during the individual meetings with RAs. I will have to brainstorm some new ideas…almost time to get back to work!?
