Ben Grant
Staff Reporter
Every residence hall floor and group of apartments has a Resident Assistant supervising them. Each one had to go through the same process to apply for their positions.
To apply, on must turn in an application, have a 2.5 GPA, They also must provide both an on-campus and off-campus reference, including one from a previous or current employer.
There are some great perks of this job. RA’s get paid 1300 dollars and a free single occupancy room. The college also pays for RA’s January term meal plan because they must stay on campus for January term.
RA’s arrive earlier than other students in order to attend a required rigorous training course which gives them time to settle into McDaniel in a leisurely manner
However, the job itself can be difficult. There are the obvious responsibilities such as making sure the floor is clean and the common rooms are usable; talking to students about noise or drinking violations, and writing up those and other incidents.
But it also helps to genuinely like your peers because you are responsible for getting to know the people who live on your floor and being available to help them with all sorts of problems. Sophomore RA Sophie Diven said getting to know her residents is her favorite part of being an RA. “It’s a great way to get to know people,” said Diven.
Andrea Andrews, an Area Coordinator, says the goal when hiring RA’s is “to build a cohesive team so we don’t have 8 RA’s with the same personality. You need introverts and extroverts. By having different personalities they can jell with different types of people.”
RA’s also need to be imaginative and creative because they’re responsible for planning fun activities for the floor. There are also weekly meetings and bi-weekly meetings with supervisors, not to mention being on duty on the floor.
RA’s have to dedicate a lot of time to their job. “You have to give up a lot of your time. When you could be spending time with friends you have to stay in your room by yourself,” said Diven.
RA’s face more than just the responsibilities of their job though; they often face scorn from their peers. “People automatically think you’re a bad person and that you’re out to get people,” said Diven.
