Becoming An RA

As a resident assistant, I upheld and am continuing to uphold University Housing’s mission of ensuring affordable, comfortable, secure housing on campus while promoting the academic success and personal growth of the residents. From crisis management to programming for the community, my responsibilities varied to be an enforcer of the policies but also to be a friend to all. I built quality relationships with each of my residents to establish an authentic community among the diverse population. Whether it was simply helping

I am applying to be an RA because I enjoy being a role model and a positive influence on others. I have been in positions before in which I was in charge of multiple people around my age, and I really enjoyed those experiences. I believe that an effective RA has strong leadership, communication, disciplinary, and charismatic skills. An RA is in charge of around twenty other students, it is important that they must be their residents’ friend and a big brother/sister to the residents and by having those skills the residents should feel as if the RA is a big brother/sister. In my opinion, the most important skill is communication. If a resident is struggling with a class, a resident is homesick, or just has any personal problems the RA is probably one of the first people they talk to. Communicating to their residents in those times can mean the world to them; just a simple conversation can help improve a person.

The program is both social and academic. I was too ambitious to productive during my last summer of high school. Thus, despite being financially struggle, I tried my best to use my savings to attend the program, with the help of tuition scholarships. In here, I built great connections with faculties and friends, whom I still stay in contact and who are helping me with my academic endeavor. Being an on child who was raised protectively in home and never allow to go on field trip, I thought this was a unique program that allows me to gain independence being far away from home and support myself. The program taught me how to get along with roommates and how to be friends with different people before my real college life started. In the beginning, I shed blood and tears, missing my parents so much. However, I knew that the most difficult obstacle to overcome is overcoming myself. New Start gave a new effect on my work ethic because of the experience I had with college students’ team work and with the conference that I presented. The transition to college became easier a few months

As a DC-CAP College Representative I will advocate on campus centered on the relationship I have established with Housing and Residence Life throughout the years. Currently, I am a Resident Advisor (RA) and a member of Residence Hall Association (RHA) both concerning housing. My role as an RA is to foster the community, provide academic support, being attentive to safety and security of the residents, and to serve as an overall counselor to the residents. Also, as an RA I develop programs that educate and encourage residents to build relationships. Furthermore, as a member of RHA my role is to develop residence hall policies, programs, and be the voice for all residence hall students and address the concerns of all the residents.

Initially when I had arrived, I was the first person to walk in, so I had some time to talk to the person in charge. At the beginning of the meeting I got a chance to speak with the wife of a guest speaker and she explained to me how the meeting was going to go. They first read two chapters from a book that was used in this program and everyone was required to have. Then, they had their guess speaker talk about their experience and how it was for him to go through the process which kept him sober for 30 years. After he was done talking, for the rest of the hour people were called on to come up and share their story. However they were asked to share a small part of their story so everyone could get a chance to talk a little and have the opportunity to feel heard. It was interesting how every story was the so different yet everyone could connect to one another.

The first reason I want to be a Residential Leader is because I feel like students will need someone to talk to several times while at school and an RL is the perfect person to go to. Students don’t want to go to their parents most of the time because they’re afraid they will disappoint them and they will not look at them the same after they’ve done something they regret. Students also don’t want to go to the counselor on campus because they feel like most of the stuff they need to talk about isn’t that serious, they just need to get it out to someone they can trust. Students trust their RL because they’re chosen to keep watch on their hall, they’re there to protect them when need be and to be a mentor for everyone. RL’s need good listening ears and the ability to take situations and diffuse them and I feel like I have that ability. In high school all my friends came to me for advice and most

As a SUNY Oneonta Resident Community Advisor, you play an important role within the Residential Community Life Department. The RCA role will specifically work with students’ living within First year Experience and Transfer Living Communities. This role provides on-call duty coverage for his/she’s assigned community, while also completing some evening office hours to connect with residents. Instead of building community among a floor, the RCA position focuses on fostering and building community on a building-wide level. RCAs will build a strong partnership with the New Student Services (NSS) staff to assist students within their transition. This positions provides some intentional programming to better prepare students’ for the next step, whether

Along with meeting each of the resident’s physical and medical necessities, our community is dedicated to encouraging

I knew that I was about to start my college career so I had to take serious action to prepare myself. I was willing to go above and beyond to get the right things in my mind and absorb all the essentials. I read books, watched videos on YouTube, and even ask actual college students about their intake on “college life.” I took all the information I could in hope that I would achieve my goal of passing my upcoming courses. I was astounded when I first started the program. I was nervous and shy, but also willing to speak to everyone and make new friends. Overall, I was super excited to be able to participate in the program. I can definitely say my attitude was set in a great place and was ready and willing to

Being an RA is by far the most rewarding job I’ve ever had and the best decision I’ve ever made. I am not the same person I was two years ago and I can neither put into words nor hardly fathom how proud that makes me. There’s a lot of work that goes into it behind the scenes- it’s not just putting together programs and making little door decs with residents names on them.

One of my favorite things to do is to see someone who was feeling down smiling because I was able to make their day better. On numerous occasions I have seen residents in my hall look up to our RL or see their faces light up as they are walking past them. I would to instill that level of joy onto resident of my own hall and be someone they can trust to come to with their problems and not be afraid to hold back any questions they may have. With many of my friends being RLs, I love the stories and ways they tell me they bond or get to better know their residents throughout the year, and I believe that it would be wonderful to have my own memories and stories to tell to inspire others to do the

The value of community involvement and improvement played a vital role in the success of this program. For example, one of the major events this program was a movie night where over 100 residents attended. The

My main motivation for applying for the RA position is that I have always had a passion for helping people, and being an RA definitely seems like a great way to go about providing support for and helping the people in my community. I was also motivated to apply for the RA position because I feel like it important to have someone nearby that residents can talk to about anything, someone who can provide support or advice no matter the problem, and I believe that being an RA would allow me to be that person for fellow residents. The social aspects of being an RA also motivated me to apply to be an RA, as being social and encouraging others to be open-minded and accepting of everyone is definitely very important to me. Finally, it would be untruthful

I learned how organizations work together to make an event of this nature happen. Bayfront Hospital sponsored a tent. They provided coffee and muffins their goal was community relations. Faucet Hospital sponsored another tent and they handed out water infused with fruit also for community relations. The American Heart Association had three tents in which they handed out water and healthy snacks which were partially donated by Faucet hospital. Additionally, they had a demonstration on how to do CPR and educated the public about sodium and how it affects your heart. The biggest learning experience I had from the experience is not the event itself, but the interaction with the public. Getting more and more people comfortable with the medical community

I’ve made friends and contacts with other students much like myself. At first, I was terrified of participating in such a large event filled with unknown faces. Being one of the two freshman invited to the event, I felt out of place. However, the people who sat near me helped me open up and as a result, I now have a sense of confidence I didn’t originally have before. Guest speakers such as Jack Andraka, Shree Bose and Nobel Prize winner Richard Roberts gave insight on the world of science and about their journey to where they are now. Thanks to their words of guidance, I was able to find a sense of ground on my future. The advice of the speakers and friends i made gave me the motivation I needed. Overall, the experience left me as an improved person and prepared for my future better than anything else I’ve