I’ve always loved to play the role of a leader in my community, and being offered the job to become a resident advisor (RA) in University at buffalo Resident hall makes me see myself achieving that goal. From my past experience leaving in the dorms, interacting with other students and participating in the hall council, I knew certain responsibilities expected of the RAs. In spite of this, I still believed that attending the training was a better means to gain more skills about the position. Today, Tuesday 18th, I had my first RA class training.
At first it seemed like a lecture, but afterward when everyone began to share their opinion, the class was more interactive than just having one speaker in the room. In the training, I learnt a lot about the RA position. For example, a more descriptive and brief explanations of the position, what is expected, a way to build good community in the dorms, and so on was presented by the instructor.
Although this first class was more like an introduction to the job, having a good knowledge and comprehensive meaning of the position was beneficial to me. Amongst everything that was mentioned in the training, the most advantageous aspect of the class was the lecture on how to build a good community.
Initially, I had little opinion about building a strong community of people. Talking to people, knowing their names and being friends with them was my definition of strong community, but during the lecture I learnt that a good community is more than just people living together and it develops as a result of every resident being able to interact freely with one another in any circumstance. Specifically, I understood that in order to ensure good interpersonal relationship and ease of communication among the residents, the RAs should plan social events which might foster communication among students. For example, diversity events where students get together to learn about other cultures.
Some RAs in my building had a sport event last semester called Soccer tournament and Barbeques party. This was the best event I ever attended because I learnt a lot, and made so many friends. The atmosphere was very welcoming and so many students came out to eat, have fun and watch the game. At the end, I had so much fun watching the game and speaking to a lot of student who I had never interacted with.
My greatest concern as an RA about the areas of the positions covered in class today was being able to know more about the job, and approach certain situations prepared. For example, when I have problems, I could schedule to speak to my resident hall advisor because I know he is in charge of the building and the coordination of the RAs. This in turn makes it easier for me to cope in the position. In the past, I’ve wondered what the RAs would do suppose they suddenly face a problem that had never been taught how to handle. Who to speak to, where to go and how to explain the situation also ties into the concern being an RA. Clearly explaining the different aspects of building a good community has improve my knowledge towards becoming a better RA.
In conclusion, this first RA class has impacted so much on my knowledge of building a good community among the resident and being able to know what to do, who to talk to and how to approach some situations in the resident hall.
Question regarding the topic:
- Sometimes it’s hard to be readily available to the residents especially when you have a previous commitment to follow up. What is the best way to handle situations or complains that may come-up when you are in hurry or extremely busy doing something else if you are not on duty?
Sometimes it is very hard to find a balance between all the responsibilities of the position. Things arise that need your attention when you have other things on your mind; such as tests, duty, etc. There are always people you can ask for help in any situation you do not know how to handle. There is a good support structure in the position where if you are having a hectic week in class and need understanding in areas of your life, it is there for you.
- I understand that some people are naturally shy to talk, while some are wild as to disobey the laws because the hall doesn’t feel like home for them. In the process of building a good community, how would I try to make everyone feel at home other than programming and putting up events?
The best tool to accomplish this goal is communication. If you have a conversation with someone and get to know who he or she is, where the people come from, etc, you will have an easier time knowing how to plug them into the community. It is a good topic to bring up and hopefully over the next couple weeks and your training with your staff in August you will get the tools necessary to start this process.
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