Residential Assistant Reflection

My first semester as a Residential Assistant has been an overall interesting, challenging, and defining experience, to say the least. Traversing through the early stages of the position, such as move-in, training, and meeting my residents, couldn’t have prepared me enough for the amazing experience that I have had thus far. Although I’ve had conversations with friends currently and previously in the position, and have had my own past experiences with RAs, I genuinely did not know what to expect when it was my turn to take on the job. This unfamiliarity with the job and uncertainty of what to expect, although daunting at first, were relieved very early on by realizing the impact I was making through my position. Several of the things that draw …show more content…
The first of my long-term goals is to develop our floor/ residence hall into a place where residents feel that this is their “home away from home.” I think it’s extremely important in college, and at this point of our lives as young adults, to have a place where we feel we belong. It’s often difficult for residents to feel a sense of home and community where they are out of their comfort zone, so I feel that I need help create this for them in our residence hall. Another goal that I have for my community is to help my residents develop their social capital. From our reading, OECD Insights: Human Capital, we know that social capital is “For the sake of simplicity, however, we can think of social capital as the links, shared values and understandings in society that enable individuals and groups to trust each other and so work together” (Brian, 2007). Based on this, it’s important for me that my residents learn the importance of the connections that they create. These connections can be long lasting and lead to a plethora of opportunities personally and professionally, for example, in their future career paths. Lastly, my third goal for the community is to help my residents develop their self-sufficiency, a skill that they can take into their everyday lives, inside and outside of the residence hall. Self-sufficiency, which I see as being able to handle and operate …show more content…
I’ve come to realize that although there are rules and policies that we uphold, as with any job, it’s a position of trial and error, more so than many other jobs. This is because in dealing with so many different people, there is no “one size, fits all” formula. Developing a community is a process that takes time, and is something that can’t be done without genuinely caring about residential life and the experience of your residents. Overall, I believe having my distinct goals for the community outlined will give me a guide of how to best engage and promote the develop of my residents. I also believe that recognizing my community challenges early on will help me to better navigate through them when and if they arise. With the amazing residents that I have and the experiences that we look forward to having, I foresee my community being an immense