The Most Interesting RA in

the World
BY MIKE JEFFERSON
GCC—NORTON ROAD HALL
IN THIS
PRESENTATION
….

- Multitasking
- Self Care
- Work/Life
balance
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
“RA X”
-VP of a Student Org

-Greek Life

-Peer Mentor

-Honors Courses

-18 credit hours

 What’s Most Important?

 Hanging out w/ friends/significant others

 Resting/sleeping/alone time
 Working out/physical activity
 Seeing/talking to family
 Studying/classwork
 Second obligations (other student orgs, work)
 Other
 Scenario #1

 Joe is entering his third year on the job. Right before the semester began,
he started seeing a girl that lives off campus. He has been consistent in
performing his basic duties, but is spending increasingly less time in his
room. When asked about time spent outside the residence hall, he states
“my girlfriend lives less than 5 mins away, you guys can call me if you need
anything and I can be there in a second”
 Scenario #2

 Pam, a first year RA on your staff, is involved in several other organizations

on campus. After your first day of training, you find out she is a math tutor,
president of the Marketing Club, and plans on joining a sorority this
semester. Since her schedule is so tight, she has very specific times that
she can come to meetings and other events, and has little room to
compromise.
 Scenario #3

 Susan is in the middle of her last semester in college before graduating.

She is taking 18 credit hours, and appears constantly swamped with
homework. She is around for her residents, largely due to the fact that she
spends most of her time in her room studying or doing homework on the
computers in the RA office. She regularly stays up extremely late and
occasionally will have nights where she doesn’t sleep at all.
 Scenario #4

 Carl has little to no obligations outside of his RA duties. He keeps mostly to

himself, and rarely leaves his room unless he is going to class. During
breaks, Carl tends to only go home when he is forced to after the university
is closed. He is well known by his residents because he is always around,
and is always available to pick up extra duty shifts.
 Scenario #5

 Rhonda is always on time for staff meetings and duty, but has been absent
on many weekends this semester. Having no Friday classes, she normally
leaves Thursday evening and doesn’t return until Sunday afternoon. One
day when you are both on duty, she reveals to you that she has been
having some serious family issues at home.
 Scenario #6

 Antonio has an extremely active social life. He goes to wing night every
Thursday with his friends and is no stranger to going out on weekends. He
normally sleeps in the building, but almost always has company over. It is
not unusual to see friends of his keeping him company in the office while
he is on duty. He is always present at meetings and community wide
events, but often will ask “when does this end” or “how long do we have
to be here”
 Scenario #7

 Chris, a Communications major, recently began a second job at the

campus radio station. Outside of mandatory duties, he is rarely seen in the
building. Chris is well aware that he needs to be more present on his
hallway, but also claims that he “needs the job experience”.
 Stay
Organized
-Calendar (Outlook,
smartphone)
-Master one routine
before taking on
additional
responsibilities
-Communicate!!!

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

Time
Management
- Never waste
time
- Don’t
procrastinate
- If its too big,
break it up!
Self Care
- Therapy
- Diet/exercise
- Maintenance
- Personal
therapist
Work/Life
Balance
-Bond with your staff
-Take time away
every now and then
-“One Night a Week
Rule”
-Cherish your breaks
Use Your
Resources!!
-examples?
QUESTIONS
??????????