Jonathan Hughes: [00:00:00] The resident advisor, or RA, is a college dorm staple. RAs can be staff members or students who live on campus and help support the students living in their residence halls. Now, I don’t want to say too much about the job, because that’s why we have guests, two of them, with us today. They’ll talk about their experiences as RAs, including the responsibilities, the challenges, and the benefits of the job.

For many students, becoming an RA can be a great opportunity. Some may want to be an RA to save on costs or because they want to gain leadership or counseling experience. And for some, it just may be that they have that desire in them. And so who might these people be? When we were brainstorming this episode and potential guests, we asked ourselves, “Do we know anyone who seemed kind, responsible, organized, and conscientious, and someone who genuinely cares about helping other people?”

And one of us, I won’t say who, [00:01:00] said that they would be willing to lay money on our eventual guests. And it turns out that they were exactly right. So Christina Davidson, Darina Barreto, welcome to the MEFA podcast.

Christina Davidson: Thank you.

Darina Barreto: Thank you.

Jonathan Hughes: What made you want to be an RA?

Christina Davidson: For me, I knew that the RA on my floor my freshman year, she created community on the floor, allowed us to have a lot of just fun experiences.

So I wanted to create that for, the next group of freshmen that will come in. Just so many great memories and friendships. So that was a huge reason. And then the other reason for me was financially, it was just very advantageous. It s- was so helpful for taking out less loans, so that was another big reason for me.

Darina Barreto: I would say for me, every year the poster would go up. I would see it. I would be interested, but I would shy [00:02:00] away. But eventually, because I became an RA during my senior year, so my junior year, I felt like I had acquired a lot of knowledge that I wanted to share with other residents. I felt like I could be, like, that point person and share a lot with them.

And also, like Christina said, the benefits of becoming RA is, getting free housing. That was also a good benefit for me. But I also like to plan events and a lot of the RAs that I’ve had throughout my year in college, they did a lot of good events that brought people together a lot of creative ways to engage people and I wanted to do that too.

Jonathan Hughes: Now Darina, what do you think somebody who is interested in being an RA, what should they know?

Darina Barreto: I would say that they don’t need to know everything. A big part of being an RA is being someone that listens to their residents, and know when it’s time to [00:03:00] just listen, and also know when it’s time to point them to the right resources on campus.

So don’t worry about like knowing everything and trying to fit in into this role before you even start, because you will get trained, and you will acquire that confidence leading up to move-in day and all of that. So just know that a huge part of becoming an RA is being a good listener and knowing when to point people to the right places.

Jonathan Hughes: And is there anything that you wish you knew before applying to be an RA?

Darina Barreto: You have to be open-minded. You can’t just assume that your experiences are going to be other people’s experience. For me, I s- lived pretty close to campus versus other people that were out of state, so I would say something that was a little bit shocking to me was just how many people were homesick.

Jonathan Hughes: And where were you an RA again?

Darina Barreto: Framingham State University.

Jonathan Hughes: Okay. Now, Christina, I’ll ask you the same question. Is there anything that you wish you knew before being an [00:04:00] RA?

Christina Davidson: Yeah. So for me, I think I look at the positives of a lot of positions or opportunities. That’s where I lean towards. But there’s definitely the side of responsibility upholding the school’s policies, and not that I didn’t know about that going in but to just be aware of both, sides of the job.

It is a role. You have to be responsible and dependable.

Jonathan Hughes: And where were you an RA?

Christina Davidson: I was an RA at Gordon College.

Jonathan Hughes: Okay. So how would you describe somebody who is a good fit for an RA role, Christina?

Christina Davidson: Everyone’s experience is different, and I think there are so many different RAs too. There are RAs that have strengths in certain ways that make them a great fit for being an RA, and then other RAs might not have those same strengths, but they would still be very successful in the job.

So that being said these are just some of the [00:05:00] attributes I think would be great for the role. I think one, one piece, like I said, being responsible. You need to know, okay, I’m helping to care for these residents, and also, the school has certain policies in place that are for our good. The residents may not feel that that’s- what they want for their college experience. But really, you’re helping the safety and security of all the students that are in your care. So I’d say being responsible. Having good time management is really helpful as well because it is a job. It is a role. You’ll have responsibilities to, attend meetings and have your rounds throughout the week to go through the dorms.

So just having good time management to manage your role and still your classwork and your extracurriculars. Being personable and having interpersonal skills is [00:06:00] huge. Even how Darina had mentioned homesickness, you’re really a, a place of, Comfort. You’re a place where your residents can land and also, still a peer, so you’re that sort of first door.

And to be able to be someone that can meet your residents in the moments that are difficult. Oh, and creativity. I think it’s fun to plan events, too, and being creative with, what you plan and how you bring people together. That’s a really fun part of the job.

Jonathan Hughes: I just want to take this opportunity to remind everybody listening that if you’re hearing this, and if Darena and Christina remind you of someone that might be a good RA and you want them to hear this episode, pause it and send it to them.

Now let’s rejoin the show. What’s involved in the general sort of responsibilities of an RA?

Darina Barreto: The policy part Christina mentioned, doing rounds.

Jonathan Hughes: What does that mean, doing rounds?

Darina Barreto: Yeah at Framingham State every night there would be two RAs, and we [00:07:00] would be the RAs on duty.

And then during different hours of the day, we would do rounds, which is going around the building and just making sure everything is good-

Jonathan Hughes: Okay.

Darina Barreto: Basically. Yeah. Nothing’s out of the ordinary. And if anything were to happen, then we would be the point of contact that they will call as well. And then if anyone’s locked out, we would help them with that as well. We also did desk duty the front desk we did a part of those shifts as well as an RA.

And we still meet with the director of our residence hall as well do check-in meetings plan events on our floor and w- we make all of we make tags for doors, which I enjoyed a lot.

Jonathan Hughes: What’s that? What do you mean tags?

Darina Barreto: The tags that we put outside of our residents’ door with their names.

Jonathan Hughes: Oh, okay. For the incoming students?

Darina Barreto: Yes. For your floor. Your floor might have a theme. It just depends how creative you [00:08:00] are. Like I did penguins- Okay. … as my tags. So it was really cute, well received. And then also, I don’t know about Christina, but we, every month, we had to do a board where we, it would be on a different topic.

I know I did on resources around campus highlighting mental health. It can be on various topics. I know I did one on Black History Month, like creators who’ve created products and stuff, like things that students may not know. So we had to do that every month. And then in terms of planning events we also were required to plan a few of our events with one of our residents on our floor as well.

Jonathan Hughes: And how does that match up with your experience, Christina?

Christina Davidson: Yeah, so a, a lot of very similar, roles and responsibilities which is great to know because I know Framingham State is a different institution than mine. Gordon College is a small liberal arts Christian school. So the setup, even though we’re at different schools it’s fun to hear that [00:09:00] there’s a lot of similarities.

When you mentioned the tags, that brought me back. I, yeah, we had, tags and just making your floor feel more inviting, running events not only, just events with my floor and the girls on my floor. I had about 20, I believe on my floor and, but then the whole building as well.

We would have joint events with the guys’ side of the dorm, the girls’ side of the dorm, and coming together and mixers, different things like that that we plan with our RA team. So that was always a lot of fun. So responsibility-wise, you’re being creative. The boards are s- so interesting.

I love that. I don’t remember doing that specifically, but I think, yeah, having the creative side and doing projects like that, and then you’re planning events with your team or individually for your residents. And then you have your meetings, too ongoing training and just connection points with [00:10:00] your team and with your resident director.

Jonathan Hughes: You mentioned that you Put on events for the residents. How did you encourage the residents to take part in those events?

Darina Barreto: A part of what I did is at the start, you kind of get to know your residents, see what they’re, what they like, what they’re into. So when I would put on certain events, I would know, these certain people, they really like this.

So I would just make sure they know it’s happening, and I would just go, knock on their door, and just tell them like, “Hey, this is going on this week. I think you’ll really enjoy it.” Be more personable instead of just putting the flyers up. Because the flyers, you put it, it’s open to everyone in the building, not just my residents.

So I just made sure I took that extra step, and I went around, and I knew off the top of my head who would be interested and just let them know it’s happening, and I would love if you joined. And oftentimes they did, and so that was really great.

Christina Davidson: Loving the events as well. I think having word of mouth and [00:11:00] having that personal touch means, makes a huge difference.

I love how you said you would work with individuals on your floor to kind of spread the word. I think having that personal connection and that personal invite makes a big difference. And then, yeah, if an event, doesn’t have as many people, to remember that- it might just be fine, and everyone is so busy.

But to have it available, I think is great.

Jonathan Hughes: What’s it like balancing all of your RA responsibilities with all of your responsibilities as a college student?

Christina Davidson: When I became an RA, I was a sophomore. I was still, earlier on in my college career. For me, I don’t remember it being that large of a extra commitment.

I guess I even think of the adage, if you want something done, give it to a busy person. So I feel like I naturally can just fill my plate and be busy. I have to learn to [00:12:00] take the time, to take time off sometimes. But because of that, I think that, as an RA, you- the responsibilities you have, you rise to meet them, and it’s like anything, student athletes or being involved in theater or just really any extracurriculars.

You’re, it’s just a matter of making sure you’re being disciplined with your time and the hours that are available, that you’re using them wisely. Whether it’s you have to get away to the library to really focus on your work versus working in the dorm so that you have that separation from things that might be going on, in the social dynamics of, the residents on your floor.

To really find those spaces and those times- … and then protect them to get done what you need to get done.

Jonathan Hughes: Interesting. Yeah. It’s also another window into the type of person that might be a good RA. Is it? And that, Darina, what about you?

Darina Barreto: For me, it was a little bit challenging because I decided to be an RA my senior year, and I had about maybe two or [00:13:00] three classes that were, like, my hardest classes- that I had to, complete for my degree. So there were a lot of projects that I needed to work on in terms of that. But what I found was that it’s just about having healthy boundaries. I like what Christina said. So I would make sure that I did my studying in the library and not in the residence hall.

Just trying to separate things. I always go to the library, but I just made it a point. This is where I go to get my work stuff done for school.

Jonathan Hughes: That actually goes into our next question. I imagine this is part of that answer, but just some of the specific challenges of being an RA.

Darina Barreto: What I would say the biggest challenge of being an RA for me was being in a building with mostly upperclassmen seniors and juniors, people that are around the same age as me. Because I feel whenever I had to enforce policy, it would either be some of the residents, they would really like that it was me and it was someone around their age just giving them a [00:14:00] quick “Hey, you can’t do that.” So some of them would accept it very well. Others would not. They would feel like, “Oh, you’re my peer. Like, why do you feel like you can come and tell me what to do? So navigating that, what I learned is that you can’t rely on your title of being an RA.

Jonathan Hughes: Okay.

Darina Barreto: You have to find ways to approach people in a way that you can earn their trust, I would say, and respect.

Even though, you are the person who is supposed to be, enforcing policy, you still have to find creative ways to earn people’s trust so that they can understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Christina Davidson: Yes, I think being a peer and having the friendship dynamic, but then also the authority dynamic, how do you balance both? So yeah, it was so well said.

Jonathan Hughes: Did you find that to be a rewarding experience being an RA? 100%.

Christina Davidson: It was very rewarding. I- [00:15:00] Not on- not only do I still have great friendships with a number of, people, the assistant, you know, resident director I worked with the some of the other RA staff I worked with, and then just, yeah, the residents on my floor.

I still have relationships with them. And I just learned so much. The training you talked about training, Darina, and not only on the side of your role as an RA when it comes to, being in that position of having to help people that might be going through a crisis or an emergency or needing some disciplinary action.

So that was really helpful. But also just on an interpersonal level the training and the way that my RA staff connected to really yeah, just know who you are. College is such a pivotal time of life to learn about who you are, how you grew up, where you came from, how then now you’re interacting with all these people who are [00:16:00] from their own backgrounds, other states or countries.

And so you’re … It’s, it w- you just learn so much and I felt like the training that my school provided to just get on a deeper level and really be transparent and vulnerable and connect, has just taken me, really far, just in general in life. Yeah.

Darina Barreto: Great points, and I agree with a lot of what you said and I would say for me it was very rewarding. And I kind of want to add a little bit onto what Christina said. We become RAs to create community, but we also create community within the RA group. And that like starts from training and on. I still, follow most of the RAs that I was in the same building as.

And it was just a really great set of groups. I know I talk about, how much it was a challenge for me because I was a senior and I had really, hard classes, but a lot of the other RAs were also seniors. So getting to lean into them with that as [00:17:00] well, seeing how they were managing their time, was very helpful.

And I would say curating some strong relationships and learning how to work as a group because a lot of what you’re doing as an RA, you’re not doing it by yourself because you really have to know how to work in teams when you become an RA. And I feel like I learned and really, I feel like that’s a skill that I use now here at MEFA, too.

Learning how to lean into your team when you need to is very important. And I would say it was very rewarding to me because I got to see my leadership skills and that’s something that people always tell me. I have great leadership skills- … and I hadn’t seen it until then.

Yeah. And so that was very rewarding for me to walk away, from college seeing that, I could be, in a role of leadership and create, a great environment and community among the people that I work with. So yeah.

Jonathan Hughes: I [00:18:00] just want to stop one more time to let you know that if you want another perspective on this subject, our friend and frequent guest, Lauren Danz, wrote an article called The Facts of Being an RA, and you can find that on mefa.org in our resource center.

We’ll also link to it in the show notes What are some of the actual monetary benefits of being an RA?

Christina Davidson: At my school, I actually, I can’t remember whether it was fully covered or just very discounted, and, I know times, there’s always changing policies and schools will differ. But I do know that it s- very much helped me in graduating.

I had less loans because that year I was able to… Really it’s a job in a lot of ways. But a job that has enormous financial benefit as well as all the rewards we were just talking about. To come out of, my private liberal arts Christian education where, it’s, it [00:19:00] wasn’t a, a public school or community college to have actually a significant difference in what I have to repay.

It was huge. Yeah. Yeah, no, it really made a big difference for me coming out and being able to afford, living and paying back my student loans.

Darina Barreto: Yeah, similar. I would say it’s definitely a great way to reduce the cost of going to college. What I also remember is because we had to do front desk as well, like help with that.

Whenever we did that, we did get paid for it. So we were getting a little bit more extra, a few hundred, dollars here and there- Wow … for doing that part as well. So that was nice. And I don’t think that was something that I knew going into it, so that was another way to just make some extra money.

Jonathan Hughes: If somebody is listening to this and they want to be an RA, what was the process of applying and becoming an RA

Darina Barreto: I remember it being very simple, honestly. They put the flyers out usually, like, mid-fall [00:20:00] semester, and then you apply. You go and do an interview, and that was around the end of the fall semester.

I always… I don’t like interviews, but I remember it being more of a conversation. It was with the director of that building and he just made it very easy and made me more excited, actually, to continue my application process.

Christina Davidson: I know that, applying to be an RA, again, it can vary at every school, but oftentimes it may happen, in the fall or, late fall, early winter, around that time that you apply, and then you’ll go into an interview process.

So yes, very similar. And I also I know that, in s- being close with the RA of your floor and I know for me, when I was an RA, I just thought of people that might be good for the role and encouraged them to think about it and apply. And so those conversations are just really impactful and helpful for just, yeah, [00:21:00] one, feeling confident in yourself.

Thinking, “Oh, maybe I would be good in this role.” And then two, being able to pass that on and pass the torch on to someone else or multiple people that you think could be a great fit for that.

Jonathan Hughes: Is there anything that, you wanted to say to anyone who’s listening to this who might think they want to be an RA?

Christina Davidson: I would say go for it. I would say have a great time connecting with people. Being in that leadership role, you can really make a lasting impact in, people’s experience. And for students, whether they’re new freshmen or they’re upperclassmen, I think to just know that you can really make a difference in someone’s year, in someone’s experience at college.

And yeah it’s a great experience. And not only that it keeps on giving. The skills I learned, the confidence, the relationships that’s my most favorite, and then just the financial piece that we talked about, too. It was so helpful in so many ways.

Darina Barreto: I would say like [00:22:00] Christina said, just do it. But I would say also if you are, someone who’s just looking at a way to get involved on your campus or even make new friends and, meet new people, I would say being an RA is a great way to do all of that. Because again, you are a part of that group of RAs, and it’s not just in the building that you live in.

Because when you start training in August, you’re meeting everyone in all the different halls. So you get to know RAs from across the board. And you can start to kind of curate those relationships at the start, and then, when they’re putting on events at their building, you can go and check that out and support them.

And it’s always encouraged to support other RAs, so even in the building that I was in, I would attend other RAs’ events and go and, show my support. But I do think it’s a great way to make friends, and that’s something that it’s not talked about a lot. So I would say if you’re, like, struggling to [00:23:00] find your community on campus try becoming an RA.

Jonathan Hughes: Darina, Christina, thank you so much for being here. It was great.

Darina Barreto: Thank you.

Christina Davidson: Thank you so much.

Jonathan Hughes: I appreciate all the work you did remembering and preparing for this show, and I think that people will really benefit from seeing it. Until next time, my name is Jonathan Hughes, and this has been the MEFA Podcast.