A day in the life of an RA

The following is an article I wrote for J327:

When I tell people I am an RA, people usually respond with a shocked look and say, “Oh my goodness I could never do that.” This thought never crossed my mind when I applied for the job two years ago. All I could think about was free living and food on campus. Surprisingly, out of the 500 applicants, I was one of 65 RAs that were picked in 2005. I have been adapting to the job ever since.

Now as one of the older RAs, I am approached and called to assist in a number of things. Somehow, this year has been absolutely crazy with kids trapped in elevators, beer pong in the hallway and vandalism with popcorn. On Monday night, I felt that I had about all that I could handle.

It all started with a nice peaceful wing dinner with my residents. In order to get everyone to know each other and feel comfortable with the community, I try to make my 46 girls eat together once a week. Of course only four of them showed up on Monday, but I like to think that I still made a difference.

After enjoying the delicacies of Kinsolving dining hall, including some weird tofu pasta, enchiladas that looked too dry and pizza that had been sitting out for a few hours, my girls and I grabbed an ice cream cone and headed back to our beloved Quad.

When entering the courtyard area, we saw people evacuating the building.

“Oh no,” I said. “I forgot about the fire drill!”

Being an elder RA, it is one of my responsibilities to make sure that fire drill procedure is known amongst the residents and that I can assist in the evacuation of the building. I was too busy chatting with my girls that I completely forgot about what was going on.

As I was standing in the middle of the residence halls, I all of a sudden see Kathy, the area coordinator (my bosses’ boss). Strange that she was there because she is rarely in the dorms after hours.

But then I saw it.

A UTPD officer dressed in a blue uniform was running around the middle of our courtyard with a large gun that looked like he was hunting down a bear. Apparently, some lunatic who was in Austin for ACL Fest had arrived on UT campus with a gun threatening to kill. I saw the fast paced movements of the officer trying to run him off the roof of the building, and then being radioed that the shooter had moved farther into campus. All of a sudden more cops with guns came out from hiding and started to migrate farther east.

Completely shocked, I saw some of my friends from The Daily Texan student newspaper taking photos and reporting. After conversing with them and with Kathy, they decide to move on and get a better story for Tuesday’s paper.

Kathy looked at me and asked, “What are you doing tonight?”

I originally planned to go to the weekly RA meeting with our boss, but since the head of the area was asking me for a favor, I assumed that my prior obligations had been overruled.

After having 20 minutes to run to my room, get all the materials for that night’s meeting with my boss, give it to another RA to present for me and explain to my boss why his superior wanted me to miss our weekly mandatory meeting, I hurried over to the quaint little dorm called Whitis Court to assist.

The night before I had been working the front desk when I got a call that the dorm across the street had flooded and they needed every RA and wet-vac on the north side of campus to hustle and help. That night I helped move furniture and this night I was to help move residents in UT vehicles to alternate dorms across campus.

After piling three boys and their valuables into a UT vehicle, I went to Jester to move one of the boys into an alternate room. I walked into Jester East and saw my fellow RA Dallas at the front desk. After I explained the situation, he gave me a befuzzuled look and said, “What are you talking about?”

After finally getting the residents in other security systems and moving their belongings from the van to their room, I finally jumped into the van. I had not worked on any of my homework for the last week, and I hoped that tonight would be a good night to get caught up. As I drove across campus back to the quaint Whitis Area, I receive a phone call from another RA.

“Hey Kendra, Carothers is flooding! Can you go and help them?” a fellow RA asks me.

As I park the car, I just laugh to myself and think about why I am an RA. What fanatical motivation prompted me to take on this responsibility?

As I arrive on the third floor of Carothers dorm, the boys had already laid newspapers inside the bathroom and all over the carpet to soak up the toilet water, just like Adam Sandler in “Big Daddy.” I ask around and one of the guys point to the water fountain where a pair of soaking athletic socks lay bundled.

“Some idiot tried to flush the socks down the toilet,” the resident said.

At that moment some of the girls from the second floor run upstairs to inform me that their floor was leaking water from the toilet as a result from the third floor’s prank. I walk outside, grab some On Campus publications (nobody ever reads that tabloid anyways), and proceed back into the dorm. I throw them down on the ground to soak up the water.

A little dizzy from the night’s events, I double check with another RA to confirm that someone is rushing to get a wet vac and clean up the mess. I could not handle any more drama at that time.

I walk into my place of solitude, 202 Andrews, my single room that I still pay $2500 for even though I work for housing. It smells of sawdust and I can see the crowd of ants in the corner that have claimed my room as their new home since their habitat have been misplaced by the construction outside.

I sit down on my Barbie comforter to begin some accounting homework and check my e-mail inbox, which I had 97 new e-mail last I checked. As I try to log online, my computer tells me that the wireless system was down at that moment and will be up later. After fighting with my computer, I shut it. I shut off my lights and then shut my eyes.

Monday ended in exhaustion without any homework accomplished.

When I think about why I am an RA, it is not just because of the free food and supposed free housing, it’s because I care. I want to help and mentor new freshmen on the ways of the campus. Many times it leads me to insanity, especially when it is two in the morning and I have to deal with a resident that has thrown up everywhere and needs to go to the hospital on a Wednesday night, but I still give. Being an RA makes me feel that somehow I am making a difference on campus.