The hardest working people on campus may very well be your next door neighbors, but you would never know watching them on a average day. These diligent folks may be sleeping through their 9:30 classes or might have sprinted in the Naked Quad Run back in December, just like you. Resident Assistants (RAs) often find their "work" overlooked, as they put on the mask of regular students and friends. And they wouldn't have it any other way.
RAs have the difficult task of balancing the already stressful life of a college student while ensuring that life in the dorms - the majority of students' home-away-from-home - stays under control, maintaining the sanity and safety of the residents. The job of an RA isn't something that starts and ends with a single day on duty, and students might often wonder why some of their friends have chosen to give themselves over to what can often be a thankless job of peer chastising and calling Tufts Emergency Medical Services (TEMS). Believe it or not, it isn't the housing or the monetary stipend.
"It's so much beyond the compensation," explained senior and third-year RA Shou Min Tan. "If that's the only thing you want, there are other ways to get a job.... There has to be some personal satisfaction you're getting out of it. If not, you're going to be wiped out."
For Tan, choosing to participate in the RA program was about a selfless dedication to people.
"It was this job that really interested me my freshman year when I first got to campus," Tan explained. "I like the peer-helper aspect of the job, I like the responsibility, I liked the programming aspect of it.
"Your personality plays a part of it, big time. The way you approach things, the way you handle people. I like that," he added.
For junior Erik Moskowitz, personality (not his own, but someone else's) played a large role in his decision to become an RA.
"My RA freshman year was a big deciding factor of why I wanted to be an RA. I terribly disliked [him] and I thought I could do a better job," Moskowitz said with a laugh.
After finding out a little more about what the job entailed, Moskowitz was ready for the challenge. "It looked like I could definitely do a better job than my RA freshman year. Whether to prove to him or to myself, I decided to do it," he said.
Junior first-year RA Alethea Pieters grew up as the youngest in her family, and the prospect of being a "big sister" figure in the dorm was a new and exciting experience for her. "I love listening to people and giving advice and being a mentor," Pieters said.
Like Tan and Moskowitz, Pieters did not just want a free room. "I think that a lot of people want good housing, and they think that RA is just another housing option... then it's not going to be a fulfilling and rewarding job," Pieters explained. "I think it's important to put in the time. I think half the fun is interacting with the kids."
Being an RA can also expand opportunities for students. Senior Megan Thurber was looking for a way to extend herself past her sports career as a runner on the women's cross country and track teams.
"I wasn't involved in any other organizations on campus. I was just looking for another way to meet people and be involved with underclassmen and sharing my experience that I had as a freshman and sophomore in the dorms," Thurber said.
Thurber had worked with students in high school and missed those interactions when she got to college. "I was looking for the one piece I was missing from high school: to get involved with more people," she said.
In Tilton Hall, the all-freshman dorm, a new dimension is added to the RA experience. Sophomore Sarah Sandison was enthusiastic about introducing new students to Tufts. When she submitted her RA application last year, Sandison specifically requested to work in Tilton. This way, she would have the chance to bring her residents together as friends, as well as teach them about the inner workings of the University.
Sandison had lots of practice interacting with others growing up with three younger sisters. Yet she is the first to admit that sometimes home experiences can't quite prepare you for what lies ahead for an RA.
"I think that sometimes people don't realize the challenge inherent in the job... you have to be a disciplinary figure for your peers and that's a very difficult thing," Sandison explained. "On top of that, you want people to talk to you about their problems. I had a lot of trouble with that first semester."
Since RAs can't leave their job behind when they're in the classroom or eating in the dining halls, the dual role of peer and authority figure often becomes an issue. RAs aren't expected to give up their social lives and become examples of boring, unamusing perfection.
"I was able, somehow, to balance out the RA position - the friendship aspect of it and the authority figure of it," Moskowitz said.
Those on the "inside," though, recognize the difficulty and significance of the job. "They are the hardest working and most dedicated staff on this campus," said Bob Clark, assistant director of Residential Life. "It's the toughest student job you can find on this campus, but in the long run, it's the most rewarding."
Moskowitz agreed: "I love it," he said. "I was scared when I first started, as a sophomore knowing that you have people on your floor that [are] older than you is daunting, to say the least, but it's a lot of fun."
Sandison finds it amusing that her position as an RA follows her everywhere on campus.
"My freshmen see me at a party or something and I don't stop hearing about it for months," she joked. "One time I got locked out of my room and people from other floors were talking about it."
Setting an example is indeed an important part of an RAs job. "People don't like to be told what to do," Tan explained. "As an RA, you have a job to fulfill, which is to tell people not to do something. You have to handle people in such a way that you do your job and you don't get them pissed off too. There's a big balance.
"It draws upon a lot of interpersonal skills. I think that's one of the more important aspects of the job," he added.
This includes building a sort of community, one of the most important aspects of dorm life. RAs must keep the residences safe as well as attempt to make things fun for students. Creating a social atmosphere at the beginning of the school year is considered the best way for an RA to encourage interactions between residents.
RAs attempt to enhance the social atmosphere in the dorms by creating and running programs, like classics such as hall snacks, that attempt to bring students together at least once a week for food and talk.
Some programs are timely, though, such as Sandison's and Moskowitz's "Welcome Back" barbecue that introduced the new residents of Tilton and Haskell at the start of the school year.
"We just try to address the issues that we think our residents are facing at the time," Thurber said.
"You have to expand your residents' mind by bringing them topics that they don't get in the classroom," Tan added.
And most importantly, "you definitely don't do it... for the power trip," Moskowitz explained. "I don't do it for the feedback from my residents. The only time they've really seen me doing what they consider an RA job is when I have to yell at them.
"I don't look for the residents to say 'Ok, you're doing a good job, you hung up these signs.' It's more - as long as they're getting along and they're having a good time, [that's what] matters," he added.
Behind the scenes of RA life, constant and intense training tries to prepare students for any issue and situation that might arise.
"They give you the week before school starts, which is good helping with mediation between people," Thurber said. "You just know all the resources that are available on campus."
Training covers issues that some RAs may not intuitively know how to handle. "A lot of the problems that I've dealt with already, I've drawn on a lot of personal experience," Moskowitz said. "The training definitely helps. Coming in as a first-year RA, no matter how much you think you know, you don't."
"From things like suicide to eating disorders, the training covers so much stuff that you hope you don't have to deal with most of it, and you don't," Moskowitz continues.
Thankfully, Thurber also hasn't had to use everything she learned in training. "I've been pretty lucky that I haven't had any major problems with personal things with people... the most that I've had are roommate conflicts," she said.
And although training is informational, it doesn't quite make an RA. "I think the training program prepares RAs well, in terms of getting them up to speed of what the rules and regulations are, but a lot of it comes down to being an RA on the field," Tan said. "You also have to use your judgment."
"When you approach a situation, you have to size it up: 'What did they teach me at RA school and how do I use it her?'," Tan added.
After three years on the job, Tan has the opportunity to both share his own insights over the years and learn from the other RAs on his team about ways to constantly improve.
"It's good to hear other peoples' approaches and to bounce ideas off people. That's one of the good things about the job - you never feel like you're alone," Tan said.
"Obviously there have been some difficult times and some difficult situations... some residents have come to me and told me some confidential stuff... but I think I was impressed that they came to me," Pieters said. "It was a good feeling to know that they trusted me and would come to me to talk to about personal stuff."
Thurber's residents recognize that her status as an RA supersedes her role as a friend. "Whether you want them to or not, you're always going to be the RA. It's very hard to separate yourself from that when you're interacting with people," Thurber said.
Pieters has formed a real bond with her residents, who she thinks of more like hallmates than wards.
"I think that when I first went in, I was really worried about how I was going to balance being a friend and being an authority figure. I think I've achieved the balance where they know not to do certain things," Pieters said. "They're just the greatest."
Although Sandison, like most of her sophomore peers, has yet to choose a life career, she believes that her RA experience will help her in whatever she decides to do in the future.
"I think it enhances your skills, being able to get along with people, being able to be a manager. You have to make some decisions sometimes that you don't always like," Sandison explained. "I think it's definitely worth the challenge."
For all RAs, the residents' happiness and well-being is the number one priority. According to a recent Residential Life survey of over 1,000 students, 87 percent of respondents reported that they were satisfied with the overall performance of their RA.
"This information is very encouraging to me because it shows me we're on the right track with who we hire and how they do their job," Clark said.
As a whole, Moskowitz finds the RA experience fulfilling. "It's definitely time consuming, it's definitely a lot of responsibility. I hope that in the two years I've had here, that I've helped people out. Whether it is my doing or not, I hope that everyone has had a great time living on my floor."
