The RA Experience isn't the "typical college experience"

     When you think of college, you probably think of parties, all-nighters cramming for midterms and lots of freedom. However the college experience is not the same for everyone. This is especially true for Resident Assistants, also known as RAs. RAs are there to enforce policy on weekly rounds to keep residence safe and happy, solve roommate conflicts, assist residents on a day to day basis and build a strong sense of community through social and educational programing. 

    Since RAs wear so many hats their college experience differs in a major way compared to that of the typical college student. The first being that as a college student you can blend in with the crowd, but as an RA you are constantly center stage.  What I mean by this is not that a typical college student can’t be an important player on campus, but that if a typical college student chooses to, they can sink away into the shadows and remain largely unknown.  An RA on the other hand does not have that luxury.  Everyone recognizes you as an RA either from rounds, and programing. Unfortunately because of this RAs are constantly connected to their job and have to worry about how they portray themselves even when they are off campus. For RAs it’s life in a fish bowl.

     

      The second way a typical student and an RA differ is the experience itself.  As a typical college student you are free to come and go as you please. You can stay out late, you can go to parties whenever you want and you have very little worry of any consequences for poor choices. As an RA however the life style is very different. RAs get 14 nights away a semester, the rest of those nights you have to be sober and in your room by 2AM. That means any parties you want to go to, you have to plan out days in advance and request the night off regardless of whether you are on duty or not.  Then of course there is the time commitments, RAs have programing, weekly meetings, duty night, lockouts, conflicts and so much paper work. All in all it is probably a fifteen-hour a week job, which means you can kiss your social life good bye!

      

      With all of this being said, being an RA is great; you gain leadership experience, fond memories and compensation. It’s a lot of work and your typical college student experience is transformed into to something drastically different.   It is a job you will never forget, and something that opens so many different opportunities.  Just think, some of the great leaders in the worlds were once RAs too!

If interested in applying to be an RA for the Fall 2014 semester, fill out the application at http://lyndonstate.edu/offices-services/housing-student-life/ by March 14^th!!!

Your RA’s,

        -Stephen and Holly!