WEB EXCLUSIVE: Somebody to lean on

This year I set out on an adventure—I became an RA for the Living and Learning Center.

Looking back on my semester, I think of the moments I was afraid would happen and the moments that actually did. I was afraid that all of my time would be consumed with residents who were rude and destructive to themselves or others, and that I would feel more like a police officer on my floor than like a fellow resident.

What did happen was that a community was built, and now it has stood the test of time. Friendships formed and were constantly strengthened through sharing meals, playing card games, watching bad television together, and supporting each other through problem sets and exams. People with personalities as different as their respective majors connected, not only because they lived on the same floor but also because they chose to share their college experience.

Being an RA is a lot of work. The nights are long, the pay is low, and the clientele is not always happy to see you. But the reward is priceless. Being the person that people turn to first in their times of need forces you to step up to the plate and be the best version of yourself. In that moment, you become the chosen one, but at the same time the choice is yours. You can decide that the television show on Netflix that you are watching is more important, or you can use your time to truly be the person someone needs.

Being an RA can be disappointing. You put hours into planning events that your fellow residents don’t appreciate and might not even notice. You dedicate time to try to help guide your peers towards services or resources that you think would help improve their quality of life, but your efforts are ignored or outright rejected.

Being an RA involves a lot of paperwork. Everything must be documented in a timely manner that takes precedence over your homework and sleep schedule. As a person who does not consider herself tech-savvy in the least, I found the learning curve on all of the websites and document services quite steep in itself.

And now, as I look back on the semester as a whole, being an RA carries all of the consequences I expected my job to come with. What I did not expect was how much being an RA would change the way I thought about myself or about asking for help. I have always been a person who does not want to lean on others for support or to inconvenience anyone. Now I see that there are people always waiting to help, ready at any moment to be the very person you need. I also see that things that seem like the end of the world to me happen to everyone, and asking for advice on how to best survive sticky situations can make the situation better.

This semester has been long for us as a campus community and is not one I think any of us will forget soon. Next semester is a chance to start over with new classes, better sleeping habits, and new mindsets on how to be the people we are all waiting to be. It has been an honor to serve as an RA, and I look forward to learning more about this community and myself next semester. I hope that our sense of community is only strengthened by our time apart, and that we all come back from winter break well-rested and ready to support each other through another semester full of amazing opportunities and challenging problems.

The author is a Columbia College junior majoring in dance. She was the 2010-2011 competition chair for the Ballroom DanceSport team.