Resident Advisor Research Paper

My interest in being a resident advisor (“RA”) stems from my desire to work intimately, candidly, and meaningfully with other people. My most rewarding relationships have all been built upon some mutually meaningful connection, whether it arises from experiencing grueling football practices together, sharing a common set of interests with someone, or working with others to finish a challenging project. I see the RA position as a way to maximize my likelihood of making these meaningful connections with other individuals, those individuals, in this case, being my future residents and fellow RAs. However, I am not applying to this position for the sole purpose of making friends, and I appreciate that the role of the RA is not always that of a friend. Even so, enhancing the lives of other individuals, with or without a corresponding friendship, is sufficiently fulfilling in and of itself. While I recognize that this does not make me particularly unique, I feel it is important to say that I derive great enjoyment from making the lives of others better. Indeed, there are few other ways to directly improve the lives of my fellow Cornellians than by taking a job wherein my responsibility is to do so. Thus, the RA position’s …show more content…
In a conversation with my current RA (Brittany), I learned that RAs are trained to handle delicate topics, like mental health and coping with LGBT+ identification. Facility in dealing with these topics, in my view, is one of the most useful understandings one can possibly attain. Given the unfortunate prevalence of depression and the ongoing effort to erase general social stigmas, RA training seems like an experience that will make me a better citizen of the world for my entire life. As dramatic as that statement may sound, I genuinely believe it to be true, and I thus feel that I would not only gain a lot by experiencing RA training, but I would also be at a loss without