Tourism Businesses brought to the Mountains?

     I have seen a lot of short films and documentaries lately about Mt. Everest and K2.  These two mountains are very extreme climbs and have unpredictable conditions.  Personally, when I think of these two mountains I think they should be left to be climbed by the experts/the experienced.  K2 does not have a "tourism business" attached to it, but that doesn't mean one day it won't have one.  I think that that is the way these mountains are going.  Climbers always look for the next extreme, and I think that is starting to pass down to the average person that has a little bit of money to spend on an extreme experience.



     The idea of there being tourism for Mt. Everest is very interesting to me.  With all the controversy of safety for mountains of this extent, I am confused as to how this could be a tourist attraction.  People now seem to want more, they don't look for the casual hike or climb, they just immediately go to the extreme.  Both mountains are completely different climbs, but I am certainly not signing up immediately to climb either!  I never thought a mountain would become a tourism business.  To me that is so silly to make a profit off of a climb.  I understand how they are making it a business, but it just doesn't seem right to me.  But hey if everyone wants that experience and the only way to get it is through the business, then I won't stop you!



 

     This clip I have added is just about how the Sherpas lives have changed with the business and how their lifestyles have changed.  It brings up some interesting points.  Some Sherpas get their money and realize they want more and leave to go live in Europe or the US.  I recommend checking it out, it gives a good perspective to see from the people that do a lot of work for Everest.

Preserve the Parks

     Really awesome project I have been seeing more on television recently.  It started a few years back and it is really cool how the Nature Valley company filmed these parks and made a google maps type of thing out of it.  Just a neat way of virtually taking people to some of the worlds greatest and most beautiful places. Check out the link below to learn more about the project:



http://www.naturevalleytrailview.com/

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!

Resident Assistant Podcast

Podcast Outline

Holly Cannon and Stephen Decatur’s Podcast Project: 

The RA Life 

       Our podcast is going to be about what it is really like to be a Resident Assistant (RA) on campus. Stephen and I are both RA’s so we thought it would be a funny idea to share our experiences along with fellow RAs as well. Our podcast is going to be humorous while informative!

I. Intro
          a. Typical things we hear from residents about RAs
II. About
          a. What is an RA
          b. When did we become an RA
          c. Why did we become an RA
          d. What is a typical day in the life of an RA
          e. What are programs that RA’s have to put on?
III. Weirdest Experience
          a. Interview done with fellow members of the staff and asked them to describe their oddest experience on the job
          b. Share our own experiences
IV. What do we hate and like about the job?
          a. Discussion about pros and cons of it (No interviews just me and Stephen)
V. What do you always carry with you as an RA?
VI. How can you become an RA?
VII. Closing
VIII. The 400-word story will be about how being an RA is not the typical college experience.

Numbers 1 through 10

Random Numbers!