Meeting the future of UNCP

     As an RA in Oak Hall I am in charge of helping the freshman classes through their first year of college. Along with this, comes hosting tours of the building on special occasions. When doing tours you have a very short amount of time to explain how the building works, what your role is as an RA, and try to "sell" UNCP to these potential Braves. However, when doing a tour it is very easy to fall into only explaining how the building works but as a seasoned RA I think in doing this, you are missing out on a great opportunity to show people what it really means to be a Brave. 

    Step one to making a memorable tour is asking the family where they are from. Even though there is a possibility you will never see these people again, get to know them in case they soon become your residents. 

    Step two is to ask about their interests. If you come to college and only leave your room to eat and go to class, you will have a miserable experience so while giving the tour you can plant a seed that will make this student have a fulfilling time at UNCP. Ask them if they are involved at their high school, if they are in any clubs. If this is the case we probably have something similar here and as an RA you can tell them about those amazing opportunities. 

    Finally, try and remember their face. These families do not expect you to remember them at all but if you at least remember their face then if they end up as your residents you can say "hey, I remember when you toured here." This makes them feel like they matter, because, well, they do matter. 

    During Covid-19, UNCP posted some virtual tours of residence halls at UNCP. I have attached those in case you are curious what the inside of these facilities look like. Tours are an important part of a high school students journey to college so making it effective and memorable is very important.

Pine Hall Tour

Oak Hall Tour (where I work)

Tips for a great bulletin board

 A big responsibility of an RA is creating a bulletin board on our floor every month. You and the other RA that lives on your floor come together and design a bulletin board based around a monthly theme. These themes include things like “women’s history month”, “autism awareness month”, “campus resources”, etc. This is all about creativity and effectively communicating your ideas. Here are a few tips on creating a bulletin board!

1. Don’t use small letters. If any of your information is too small in size, residents on your floor will not care to read the information your presenting
2. Don’t be afraid to make it personal. Boards are more impactful when the people on them, are people we all know personally or see around campus. 
3. Don’t be boring. It is easy to get in your own head about bulletin boards thinking “nobody reads this anyways”, but do not let that be an excuse for a sub par bulletin board. Someone will read it, your bulletin board matters to someone even if it is just one person. 
4. It’s ok to look up ideas. Not everyone is a creative genius and that is ok! The internet has plenty of ideas to help you create a meaningful board. 

I have attached some boards my floor partner and I have created this semester to maybe spark your fire to do something creative, personal, and exciting! 

A day in the life

 Life as an RA can be a little blurry to those not within the role. It is not the hardest job day to day, so I will let you know what a day on duty looks life for an RA. After I wake up I brush my teeth and head to class. When I return from class I perform my first RA duty which is changing the "on duty" board. This is a board we have in the lobby that shows the building who is on duty that day. After this I do a "day round". When doing "a round" an RA walks the halls on each floor, taking note of residents in the halls and community spaces, noise coming from rooms, smells on the floor, broken walls or ceiling tiles, and trash on the floor. 

After the board change and the day round I do not have many RA duties during the day. This is until after 6 o'clock when the Housing and Residence Life office gets to go home for the day. From 6pm to 8pm it is the RAs turn to answer any questions, key residents into their rooms when they inevitably lock themselves out, or answer phone calls. When 8pm hits, we have what is called "desk duty" where we must sit downstairs in case anybody needs assistance and every hour from 8pm until midnight we do "rounds" again. Then at midnight, we do our last round and head to sleep.

Some nights that is all that happens, but every night is not that simple. Sometimes we have residents smoking in the building, having parties, struggling with suicidal thoughts, or something else that we offer assistance for. But, it's all in a day's work. If it means keeping the residents safe and comfortable in Oak Hall, I would do it.

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicide or suicidal thoughts call 988 or visit 988 Lifeline

Hi, I'm Maddie:)

 

Hello. My name is Madison Schwenneker, everyone around here calls me Maddie. I am a Resident Advisor at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. I have held this role for two years working in a freshman residence hall, the same place I lived my freshman year. I have such a love for working with this population of students and look to pursue a career in higher education. My time as an RA has had some very high highs and very low lows. I want to share with you all my experience in this role, what I love about the unique experience I have and what could be changed to make this experience better for future RAs. This is a picture of me from an event I had the privilege of working at. My shirt has my initials on the front and says "NOAK" on the back, standing for the two building that work together. This shirt was made by my friend and coworker and is a symbol of the happiness that one can find working in this role.