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Ten days before students arrived on campus this fall, resident advisors (RAs) gathered for the final stages of their training. They had been supervising their dorms since spring break of last year, at the time of their initial instructions, learning the ins and outs of guiding their peers. This training is crucial, as any RA will attest.
For the most part, the fall portion of RA training is a refresher course on what is covered in spring, although advisors spend a few additional hours training with the health education outreach office.
Over spring break, RAs become Red Cross-certified and in fall, they brush-up on the basics of CPR, says residential life coordinator David Castro '99, who oversees all RA training.
By the time fall semester arrives, many RAs have already spent a few months with current students, but it is often their first encounter with arriving freshmen. Thus, much of the latter training is spent dealing with issues specific to first-year students; dealing with homesickness is a skill RAs are required to master, as many freshmen look to RAs for support and advice, away from their own parents. In this regard, "RAs at CMC are often viewed more as confidantes than authority figures," says Jason Brooks '06. " They have the power to discipline us, but their demeanors are friendly, not frightening."
Not surprisingly, RAs also are schooled in dealing with freshmen relationships and breakups. Castro says first-year students enter college expecting relationships with high school sweethearts to endure, and many are shocked when they don't. So RAs are taught to deal with the fallout, and with the stresses that outside relationships add to college transitioning.
"Being an RA is definitely a job," says Brian Taylor '04, the new RA of Phillips Hall, "even if it is a fun one."
He says role-playing exercises in training are especially helpful, because often RAs have no idea what situations they will encounter. "There's no formula for being a good RA," he says. "But the goal is to have a community of respect for other people's preferences."
Taylor says it's common for students to overlook the hard work invested by RAs throughout the year, but in speaking for his peers, he says RAs take their jobs seriously.
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