In August, I began my journey as a first year RA on north campus. As an RA, I provide support to my residents and my hall director with anything they may need. I organize events and craft nights for my residents to attend in order to build community and get them to engage with each other. I also try to engage with the other RAs in my building during rounds, our weekly staff meetings, and hanging out with them from time to time. So far my experience has been good. My residents are great and they follow all the guidelines set by the university. They interact well with each other and know that they can also lean on me when they need to. When I started, I was worried about being able to create a positive and safe community for my residents and being able to balance my classes, extracurricular activities, and the demands of the job. Luckily, the feedback I have gotten for my residents have been positive and they do feel like our floor is a close-knit community. However, we getting close to finals, the pressure and stress that comes with my rigorous courses, wanting to get more involved, and keeping up my responsibilities as an RA has been a bit challenging. As I am still learning how to navigate these challenges, hopefully, second semester I will have a better grasp of it.
Stephanie Ogonuwe