This is my 3rd year here as an RA at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. My first two years as an RA here on campus I was in a traditional residence hall on a floor with all freshman. I took pride in how my floor community grew in the short time that my residents lived together. I truly believe that the bonds I helped create will be friendships my residents will have for the rest of their lives. Our floor became one big happy family after merely weeks of knowing one another. There was an overwhelming sense of trust that my residents found in me. There were residents that would come tell me every detail of their day, some that would walk the floors and stop in every single room to check in on their floor mates, and others that came to me in the time of crisis that trusted me enough to know what to do in order to help them with their situation. We never felt awkward seeing each other walking down the hall in a towel, because that was just part of living here. I saw their every move and knew everything about each of my residents, weather I wanted to or not. I guess that was just a continuation on our “Fish Bowl” philosophy that we RAs hear about so often. I loved being an RA on an all-freshman floor. I loved the atmosphere, and I loved that my residents would notice if I left town for a few hours. Every time I would return to my room I would have a note on my whiteboard telling me that someone needed to talk to me, and although this life seemed nearly perfect, my RA life was about to change.
In any aspect of my life, change is hard. I am horrible at making decisions, and I am even worse at adapting to big changes. I enjoy following the “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy. My life was perfect. “I love being surrounded by my needy freshman, so why did they move me?” I asked myself when I received my placement letter. I was going to be an RA in Starin Hall. A residence hall completely of upperclassman, living in apartment style suites. I know nothing about upperclassman. They are quite, and boring, and they all just do their own thing. Starin is quite, that is not a good fit for someone as obnoxious as myself. The past two years I have had “Open Door Charts” where I would walk the floors daily and give a sticker to any resident with their door open. I did this religiously, and all of my residents fought over who would get the most by the end of the semester. But in Starin, the doors close automatically. I knew this was going to be a huge change for me. I hated change, especially something that would affect my entire life. RAs all across campus would kill to be in Starin, and I never asked for this… So why me? Why did they do this?
Training came around, and I tried my best to attend sessions about how to handle upperclassman. I just assumed they would be able to take care of themselves. Move-in day rolls around and they all knew exactly where they were headed. Nobody asked me where the bathroom was on the floor because they each had their own bathroom in their suite. They didn’t ask how to get their books or class schedule, how to set up their wifi, or where the big white tent was to register for Club U Dub Dub. So what was my purpose? Why was I even on the floor? It certainly wasn’t because anyone needed me. I had a really hard time getting started, and getting motivated to meet and interact with my residents. “Being around” on my floor seemed pointless for so long. I would sit in my room and be able to get an entire paper done without being interrupted by my residents! To some this may seem wonderful, but for me it wasn’t. I was lonely. I wanted things to be how they used to be. I wanted residents to need me. So, I decided to go exploring! I decided to venture out on my floor more often and get to know my residents. The room structure for RAs in Starin, in my opinion, is the biggest curse. Because of the size of the room you have no way of having your living area in view of the door. So unless I was laying in my bed, even with my door open, I could never see my residents walking down the hall way. The RA room is also really close to the end of the hall way, and super far away from the elevators, so a majority of residents never even walk all the way down to where my room is. But instead of sitting here and moping about things I cannot change. I decided to take action. I realized that if I sat up by the elevator doors, or in the lounge area outside my room. I was much more visible to the residents. Any time they would walk down the hall, they would seem me doing my homework out there at the table, and they would stop to chat. These little conversations grew to bigger and deeper conversations, and before I knew it, I was starting to get to know my residents. Granted, I don’t know who their high school best friends were, or what their favorite type of music is, or what the top item on their bucket list may be, but I do know other things. I know they are getting close to graduating. I know what their career will be in just a few short months. I know that they have put in many hours of work to get to where they are today, and I know that have big goals for the years to come. I realized that my residents still need me. They just need me in different ways. In other halls they may put on programs about good study habits or how to stay organized, but here I was much more likely to work with my residents and help assist them put on the programs they want to put on. Some of my residents love to cook, and they wanted to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner for the floor. It turned out really well and everyone loved it, but it was the residents that took initiative to put on that program. Another thing is that spontaneous programming with residents is a bit more planned. Everyone here is super involved and usually really busy. I noticed that instead of just showing up and watching a movie with my residents, the spontaneous programs are more planned. We have to work around our schedules to fit in a little game night or something, but I feel like the quality of programs is still wonderful. It has taken time for me to realize that my residents here in Starin still need me. They just need me in different ways then my residents did before. Earlier I mentioned that I am really social, and one of my favorite aspects of the First Year Student floor was the social atmosphere and community we built. Helping to create that atmosphere is a strength of mine, and that skill can be translated here even though it is much more difficult to do so. In Hein’s sight I am able to see why I was transferred to this new hall, and that reason is to help make Starin’s overall atmosphere more social and welcoming. At this point my floor seems more social than any other. Residents bounce from suite to suite, and they are starting to build wonderful friendships. Our floor has been the host floor for many events, and I often see residents from other floors or off campus housing coming here to study or socialize with my residents.
Overall, this year has been a huge change for me, but I am so honored that I was given this challenge. I was able to create new ways to take the skills I gained over the past two years and alter them to accommodate my new floor. Typically I say that Change is hard, and that remains true. This move was hard for me, but I’ve realized now that I would not want to change this experience for anything. I love my residents, my floor, my staff, my hall, and each and every new experience that I was able to have while here. I have realized that this change was life changing, and I would not want to trade it for anything in the world.
