Essential to life on campus, RAs help build community and resolve conflict in dorms
(Talley Carlston -- The Beacon)
By Kathryn Walters Staff Writer walters14@up.edu
Senior Angie Winczewski always knew she wanted to be an resident assistant. As a little girl, she wanted to be a princess, and when her aunt told her a story about how her former RA at college had dressed up for a dance, Winczewski linked princesses and RAs in her mind.
Years later, Winczewski has fulfilled her lifelong dream to be a RA. She resides in Mehling Hall.
"I can imagine no other life than being an RA. It's not a job, it's who you are."
RAs are the students who live in every wing of every floor in every dorm. They are there to make life easier and fun for on-campus residents by being a resource and a role model.
"We're expected to be available and accessible for the residents," senior Shipstad Hall RA Zach Steinkamp said. "It's an older sibling type of role."
This is especially true for freshmen. RAs check in from time to time with their freshman residents and encourage them to get involved within their dorms and life on The Bluff.
"It's important to be active in your hall and get to know your Hall Director," senior Villa Maria Hall RA Kurt Berning said.
Junior Fields Hall RA Janie Oliphant said she sometimes acts goofy in front of her freshmen in order to make them feel more comfortable. She also tries to persuade them to come to different events.
Oliphant believes that freshmen should take advantage of their time in the dorms.
"Dorm life is very unique. It's a time in your life when you can live with different people," she said.
RAs are compensated for their many duties with a full room and board scholarship. However, according to Steinkamp, only those who genuinely want to be an asset to dorm life should apply.
"If you're in it for the money, you won't get the job," Steinkamp said.
Although RAs have many duties, Michael Walsh, director of Residence Life, said the true essence of an RA is their presence.
"That's what being an RA is all about: being involved in the community," he said. "It's all about hospitality and caring for the community and each other."
RAs help foster community through floor, dorm and quad events. They collaborate with hall directors and assistant hall directors to plan activities for students such as movie nights and door-stop making parties. These events help the RAs get to know their residents and dorm residents to get to know each other.
"We give the opportunities to grow as individuals and as a community," Winczewski said.
RAs also have the important responsibility of keeping their dorms safe. They do rounds late at night and are on duty on alternating nights. RAs must also maintain harmony within their dorms by helping resolve any potential conflict between floor mates.
Steinkamp said there is a lot of compromise in these situations. He said that RAs are trained specifically on what to say and do in various kinds of situations, and it can be sometimes be difficult to remain calm and think quickly.
Winczewski dislikes using her disciplinary powers, but acknowledges that it is part of the job.
"We have to use it but we don't enjoy it," she said.
Another challenge of being an RA is far more personal. RAs must learn to balance between their life as an RA, schoolwork and their personal lives.
Steinkamp said when he first became an RA last year, it took him the first semester to
understand what being an RA means in terms of time management.
"Finding a balance between your job and people in your life is important," he said.
Berning shared a similar view.
"It can be hard to think of others and not yourself all the time," he said.
Despite the challenges of being an RA, Berning loves his RA position.
"I don't think you would find an RA who didn't get something out of it that is good," he said. "What better way to spend your time talking and hanging out with people?"
(-- The Beacon)
