NT, what do you think about becoming a resident assistant?

[derventa]

I just finished my first freshman semester, I was very involved, and I made a lot of connects with many people in the residence life department. I'm prettymuch guaranteed the position.

The benefits include a waived housing fee ($9,000 for the whole year), and a waived meal plan (about $2800 for the whole year.) Plus you're guaranteed asingle (no roomates FTW). So that leaves me like for only $5000 to pay for that year, which is covered by the stafford loan(s).

I'm only asking this because I believe it will detract from the cliche "college experience" ....since I do like to get my and

on. Being a resident assistant will highly limit my freedom.

What do yall think??

 

[mytmouse76]

you would basically have no out of pocket expenses that year...i say do it...you could probably still get away with smokin and drinkin...

i know RAs did when i was a freshman...

 

[whateversclever]

RA's still drink and smoke and have sex...

 

[mr718]

Do it. No need to worry about paying for school while in school? Jump on that.

 

[fat boy 915]

I'm a Junior in college and RAs are the most hated people on campus. They have a rep that makes them seem like they are out to get you.

I would say do it, but be a "nice" RA and not one who goes looking for trouble. That way, people will like you.

 

[masterhammy23]

I would say do it. The money you save would be worth it.

And you can still party, you just have to make sure you are still setting a good example for the other residents because you are an authority figure. I knowthat's a problem that RA's go through.

 

[elocin023]

The pros outweigh the cons. And I dont really think it limits your freedom. Of course during the first few weeks you have to be more accessible than later onin the year when people pretty much know what's going on and then on duty rotation starts (a few hall meetings). As long as you have a cool hall with notso much trouble then it seems pretty easy.

 

[gko2408]

You can do all those things, but it's harder to get away with. I'm living with my friend who became an RA this year (Rutgers) and he can't have anyevidence (facebook pictures) of him being drunk or with a drink. They fired the last person who did. If you're under 21, i'd think it's much harderto get drunk since you can't just dip into the bars with friends and random heads. you'd have to hit up house parties and possibly run into the peopleyou are RA'ing.

Still, for all the costs that go away with being an RA, it's definitely worth it.

 

[derventa]

Thanks for the input, im still debating

 

[Good Ol J.R]

I was an RA last year at my university (csu-san bernardino). Our benefits (free rent, food, 100 dollar stipend) is ok but its not worth the work. If you valueyour freedom and doing what you want, I wouldn't do it. However, if you have a good staff and a good supervisor you shouldn't worry. Its a greatexperience, I just didn't have a good staff (boss was hella piff). Really think about it.

 

[derventa]

Originally Posted by JRAdagreat72

I was an RA last year at my university (csu-san bernardino). Our benefits (free rent, food, 100 dollar stipend) is ok but its not worth the work. If you value your freedom and doing what you want, I wouldn't do it. However, if you have a good staff and a good supervisor you shouldn't worry. Its a great experience, I just didn't have a good staff (boss was hella piff). Really think about it.

How was your social life being one? Were people treating you differently outside of school? If I do become one, Im not letting anyone know outside my hall

Im cool as hell with my would be "boss" (the resident director of the hall i would be working for). He lets me into his apartment to chill and playxbox

 

[downtown43]

you can still smoke/drink/party as an RA.. i actually ran into my RA at parties a few times freshman year, and she wasn't wasted or anything but she hadobviously been partaking in some underaged drinking.

but don't think you can RA and still live the "life of the party" lifestyle, if thats how you are now. you will definitely get caught up. if yourfloor is getting out of control and another RA walks by and reports it, you're gonna look bad.

they monitor your Facebook too, so you have to be up on your game.. immediately delete any and everything slightly inappropriate that gets posted to your page.

 

[ajchick23]

It's worth it...that's thousands of dollars saved...but I hear it's a pain in the @** though.

 

[sneakers904]

The RA's at my school FAMU, don't like it.

 

[bkdan1]

One of my ex's was an RA. Sure you'll save alot of money, but at the same time it's alot of work. Hope you can handle the expected and even moresothe unexpected.

 

[sangalang]

depends on your school i guess.

last year my ra didn't care if we drank, and it was obvious. he would just have the blind eye unless w were completely obnoxious or something bad happened.

plus i would see him out all the time lol.

but there are good ra's, bad ra's. just do whatever you feel like you want to do

 

[sundizzle]

Depends on the situation. I did it and it is pretty chill and easy thing to do. I would suggest not smoking/drinking in your room though or anywhere near anyof your residents it is just not worth the trouble. During your 2nd year you'll know plenty of people living off campus so that is where you should be doinur dirty work. It is nice to have a single though and not have to deal with any roommates etc. Honestly though, unless you already have a gf it does take a lotlot lot more time than people think it takes. There are random nonsense "event" you may have to do, put up/make random posters, report anymaintainence problem stuff, be the on-call RA occasionally, deal with the people in your dorm.

Mine was a little different because I was a RC meaning it was university apartments, not dorms and so people could drink/throw small parties, have fun etc.Everyone was over 21 so drinking etc I never had to deal with those problems. As for smoking, everyone that smoked in my complex I already knew/had smoked withthem the year before so they knew I was chill with it and they made sure not to get into any situations that would put me in a problem spot. Overall, it waseasy except for the stupid expectations of throwing "events" and such. They wanted me to do more than just throw a pizza/soda huge projector on thelawn movie night. Though that had the best turnout and was super fun it wasn't cultural and educational. Psh...like i am going to organize an event tolearn how to make origami. That is what special interest clubs and organizations are for.

 

[Good Ol J.R]

Originally Posted by derventa

Originally Posted by JRAdagreat72

I was an RA last year at my university (csu-san bernardino). Our benefits (free rent, food, 100 dollar stipend) is ok but its not worth the work. If you value your freedom and doing what you want, I wouldn't do it. However, if you have a good staff and a good supervisor you shouldn't worry. Its a great experience, I just didn't have a good staff (boss was hella piff). Really think about it.

How was your social life being one? Were people treating you differently outside of school? If I do become one, Im not letting anyone know outside my hall

Im cool as hell with my would be "boss" (the resident director of the hall i would be working for). He lets me into his apartment to chill and play xbox

I was the chill RA so everyone knew. One time when i was on round i texted the freshmen homies to let them know to put their bottles away beforewe start or its out of my hands. i played both sides of the field....its a LOT of work so social life kind of has to take a backseat. you can still do what youdo just in moderation you know? make sure your grades are on point...that was my downfall

.

 

[superantigen]

I was an RA, or as we call it at--a CA, for 3 years. The position definitely has its perks and draw backs. If you're doing it solely for the money, thenI can guarantee you that YOU WILL HATE EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

...

 

[ubuibeme]

I was an R.A for two years. Looks good on the resume. All the perks were cool, but you had to devote time to putting on programs, doing lock-outs in the middleof the night, doing hours in the office, etc...

You should do it. Good luck.

 

[derventa]

Originally Posted by SuperAntigen


If you're doing it solely for the money, then I can guarantee you that YOU WILL HATE EVERY MINUTE OF IT

Yea but...
Every action we do is money related, the hell else would I do it for

?%$*@! and giggles to get freshmen in trouble? You can say im doing it for a good resume, but still, thats money related.

 

[seniosoul]

i'd like to have a roommate being in solitaire ftl... if some +%@# catches fire or some one bust in that $!*!*... at least you got a roommate to back youup.

 

[superantigen]

Originally Posted by derventa

Originally Posted by SuperAntigen


If you're doing it solely for the money, then I can guarantee you that YOU WILL HATE EVERY MINUTE OF IT

Yea but...
Every action we do is money related, the hell else would I do it for

? %$*@! and giggles to get freshmen in trouble? You can say im doing it for a good resume, but still, thats money related.

The word of emphasis in the OG post was "solely"--maybe I should've made that more clear...

Yeah, a lot of what we do is for money but the way I see it, with certain things in life, the monetary products are not worth the effort. For example, withbeing a CA, your social life will be impacted--no doubts about that. If you're a party-er, then either you're going to have to change your ways, oryou'll soon find yourself in a very irritating bind.

Also, as has been previously pointed out, it's seriously a 24/hr job (when you're on duty), and still remains a time consuming job even whenyou're not on duty, word to-- lockouts, judicial reports in the damn 3rd person p.o.v (

), mediation of room mate conflicts (god I hated these--

), regulating and enforcing quiet hours in your area of duty(which for me, was my entire building), staff meetings which can become inconvenient rather quickly as the semester goes on and school work compounds, one onone meetings with your hall director which can also become time consuming and inconvenient, local and campus wide programming, room inspections (and this iswhen I first became cognizant of the fact that chicks are by far, much more filthy AND much more disgusting than dudes...

), floor meetings, and the list seriously goes on--just to name a "few"of your responsibilities...

That said, the rewards for me were well worth it. Although, it must be noted that I am NOT a "party-er" as I hardly drink (actually had my firstdrink yesterday (saki) after ~2.5 yrs of no alcohol whatsoever) and I don't smoke.

Yeah the financial perks were appreciated, but I also loved the fact that my position allowed me to play an active role in the positive college experienceof freshman, soph, juniors, and occasionally--seniors. I always had big programs so that was also and always fun--word to my thanksgiving program where Iactually cooked a damn turkey with all the sides for my floor/building...

. I was also def. the "cool" CA. Definitely had a great time. Although,it must be said that after 3 years of having my own room, I started wishing I had room mate...

But that's just the tip of my experience. If you really care about making a difference and meeting a crap load of new people (which is one of the unsaidsocial perks of being a CA) then def. apply for the position.

...

 

[derventa]

Originally Posted by SuperAntigen

Originally Posted by derventa

Originally Posted by SuperAntigen


If you're doing it solely for the money, then I can guarantee you that YOU WILL HATE EVERY MINUTE OF IT

Yea but...
Every action we do is money related, the hell else would I do it for

? %$*@! and giggles to get freshmen in trouble? You can say im doing it for a good resume, but still, thats money related.

The word of emphasis in the OG post was "solely"--maybe I should've made that more clear...

Yeah, a lot of what we do is for money but the way I see it, with certain things in life, the monetary products are not worth the effort. For example, with being a CA, your social life will be impacted--no doubts about that. If you're a party-er, then either you're going to have to change your ways, or you'll soon find yourself in a very irritating bind.

Also, as has been previously pointed out, it's seriously a 24/hr job (when you're on duty), and still remains a time consuming job even when you're not on duty, word to-- lockouts, judicial reports in the damn 3rd person p.o.v (

), mediation of room mate conflicts (god I hated these--

), regulating and enforcing quiet hours in your area of duty (which for me, was my entire building), staff meetings which can become inconvenient rather quickly as the semester goes on and school work compounds, one on one meetings with your hall director which can also become time consuming and inconvenient, local and campus wide programming, room inspections (and this is when I first became cognizant of the fact that chicks are by far, much more filthy AND much more disgusting than dudes...

), floor meetings, and the list seriously goes on--just to name a "few" of your responsibilities...

That said, the rewards for me were well worth it. Although, it must be noted that I am NOT a "party-er" as I hardly drink (actually had my first drink yesterday (saki) after ~2.5 yrs of no alcohol whatsoever) and I don't smoke.

Yeah the financial perks were appreciated, but I also loved the fact that my position allowed me to play an active role in the positive college experience of freshman, soph, juniors, and occasionally--seniors. I always had big programs so that was also and always fun--word to my thanksgiving program where I actually cooked a damn turkey with all the sides for my floor/building...

. I was also def. the "cool" CA. Definitely had a great time. Although, it must be said that after 3 years of having my own room, I started wishing I had room mate...

But that's just the tip of my experience. If you really care about making a difference and meeting a crap load of new people (which is one of the unsaid social perks of being a CA) then def. apply for the position.

Good read, thanks.

I also understand that i would be limited in personal spending, because I would barely have time work. And sophomore year is finally when Im allowed to have acar on campus, and no job= no car.

 

[dakingii]

Its more work than you think