RA Brain

The Resident Assistant has been defined in many ways and each institution has a different way that they define the role as well. There are some key areas that are agreed upon in the Higher Education Community, and Wikipedia summarizes those quite well:

A resident assistant is a trained peer leader who works with College students living in a residence hall. An RA has many roles and responsibilities, including, but not limited to, building a residential community through programming, acting as a para-counselor for students, being a familiar first resource for students with academic or institutional questions, and enforcing residence policies. The RA goes through a rigorous training process. An RA must balance his/her own schedule and priorities with the needs of the students he/she is supporting. Above all, a resident assistant must be an example and uphold professional and personal accountability as outlined by the institution.

Here at Ripon College, the RA staff is an extension of the Division of Student Life and often provide the valuable link for students in crisis to find the campus resources that are necessary for their success. It often takes years after graduation for a student to realize the impact that other students had on their College experience. It is often hard to just trust that feeling- the feeling that you know you are having a positive impact on your community through your programming efforts, your time on duty upholding community standard, and in your everyday "lollipop" moments with other students on campus. 

I promise you that students here at Ripon College not only notice the effort that RAs put into their role, but they also appreciate it. As I reviewed the fall semester for Dean Ogle and looked at all the programming we completed, all the students who were connected to resources by RAs that were academically successful, all the roommate conflicts that we helped to mediate, and just the time that we as a staff spent with our residents- I was humbled. As a department we are the backbone of a residential institution, we helped to create a caring community where students were known and valued and I thank you for that! The RHDs and I cannot do these things without all of you and your efforts. I am grateful that whatever your motivation for applying for the job that you did! You are my favorite students on campus, well that is if I had favorites. Which we all know I do not :)

I am also thankful that scientists have done scans and research on students who become RAs and their brains. All of you must have some of the following aspects in your noggins as well, which has been instrumental to our success. 

Thanks for being a wonderful student staff that makes me thankful that I work at Ripon College. 

-Jessica