Whether it is helping students who locked themselves out of their rooms or being the first point of contact during emergencies, Residence Assistants (RAs) at Oakland University help over 2,200 students each semester. With almost 14% of the student population under their tutelage, new RAs share their experience during the first week of the semester as students return to campus.
“You don’t really think about how much training you have to go through to handle the mail in the packages,” Javier Rosario, an RA on the fourth floor of Oakview, says. “It’s, it seems very stressful at first, and then you learn about it, and it seems really easy, and then you actually do and it’s back to being very stressful.”
At the end of the day, Rosario explains, the RA team always has each other’s back. With this semester being his first as an RA, Rosario highlights communication as the best option for RAs who are still figuring it out.
“I remember I had trouble logging into a specific app that we use. I thought, ‘man, I’m doing everything it says that we should be doing. It’s not working,’” Rosario says. “Rather than go on my desk duty without that crucial app, I texted my team and fixed it. It’s better to ask and feel silly for a second, then not to ask, and something goes wrong.”
Between desk duties in the morning and late-night rounds, he and other RAs make sure students have the assistance they need to enjoy life on campus.
“Especially coming into college, sometimes [students] don’t know that they need that extra help, or extra assistance coming in and learning how to be more of an adult than they already are,” Lexie Cousineau, a sophomore student and new RA, says.
With crowded parking lots and full dining halls, Cousineau, who works at Hamlin Hall, expresses excitement to see more freshmen students involved on campus.
“I really like the Hamlin community, just because it’s very lively in here,” Cousineau says. “ I was a freshman last year, and when I went to the [live band karaoke] last year, there were not a lot of people actually going to things. So I feel like, especially this freshman class, is very interactive with the campus, which I’m very excited to see.”
With more students in the residence halls, RAs had to go through two weeks of nine-to-five training before the Fall. With three years of experience under her belt, Paige Burns and other seasoned RAs have been helping mentor new assistants since those training weeks.
“I would definitely say take advantage of the RAs. We’ve been here, so we know the ins and outs,” Burns says. “Yes, we enforce housing policies, but we aren’t scary people. We’re here to help and support, whether that’s directly through us or by connecting you with someone who has more knowledge and resources to assist you.”
Also working at Hamlin, Burns has an expertise and a passion for keeping students engaged with the campus community. The key, she explains, are intentional social events.
“My favorite memory as an RA was last year when I hosted a Black History Month program. The event turned out really well, I had over 70 people attend,” Burns says. “It was a project that I was extremely passionate about because many of the residents from the year before had told me they would love to have an event in housing to celebrate Black Culture. Hopefully, we’ll be able to bring it back this year.”
From Hillcrest to Vandy, RAs work year-round to make sure campus residents can call Oakland University their home.
“My favorite thing as an RA is getting to help students with more of those difficult situations that they might have,” Cousineau says. “So maybe it’s something like a class, or whether they’re not feeling well, like mentally, or anything like that, just helping them kind of regulate those emotions and being kind of like a gateway to finding solutions.”
