This summer has gone by so fast! I got to go to Scotland which was absolutely amazing! I've had such a wonderful time in California with my mom it just went by too fast!!!!!!! I fly back to Arkansas on the 9th of August and I have to be back in the dorms on Sunday the 10th. From there it's a week of R.A. training. I'm excited because I'll be working with 3 brand new R.A's and it's going to be such an awesome year. RA training is basically a time when all the RA's (there are about 20 in all) get together for classes in things like CPR, recognizing the signs of drug and alcohol abuse, how to properly write someone up, that sort of thing. We also do a day of team building exercises in which we go out to some camp and do all of those crazy rope climbing exercises as a team it's pretty fun! During this week we also have to do RCR's (Room Condition Reports) on ALLL the rooms in our halls. Meaning we have to go through each room and document it's condition. This consists of counting burns on bookshelves checking to make sure the sinks aren't clogged and the lights all work. This way a resident doesn't get charged at the end of the year for damage that was already there. Use to it was a really slow process for me as it is for any new R.A. but now I can do a room in about 5 minutes but there are 75 or 80 rooms in the hall that I work in so yeah that's a lot of paperwork for four girls especially when 3 of them are brand new LOL. We also have to decorate our halls and do bulletin boards during that week and everything has to be ready by Saturday night because that Sunday is MOVE IN DAY!!!! Move in day is so awesome. All the campus organizations like the Baptist Collegiate ministry and Missionary Baptist Student Fellowship send out members to help people move in. The RA's are stuck in the lobby all day long checking people in explaining the gazillion forms the residents have to sign before we give them their keys. It sounds like a lot of work but it's actually kind of festive. Unless of course you get snotty freshman! One year we saw a freshmen girl slap her mother it was freaky!!! After check in on Sunday morning and afternoon comes the infamous first hall meetings. We have 3 meetings from 7-9 that are for each floor. At these meetings the RA's have to act all rough and tough but still come across as halfway caring while we explain all the rules and conditions of living a residence hall setting. Being an RA has greatly improved my leadership skills because I have to be the authority on many issues it's a real learning experience. It's not always easy to balance enforcing the rules and being friendly with your residents. If you're in a dorm life situation look into becoming an RA! Most Res Life departments have great stipend packages. My school pays all my room and board my meal plan and 12 hours of my tuition and fees it's pretty awesome! I don't know what I would do without it!!!! Anyway once Move in Day is over comes the first week of classes. Monday and Tuesday are just registration days for incoming Freshmen and the first actual class day is Wednesday. I'm going to try something new for the incoming freshmen on my hall. I can remember being a Freshmen and not knowing where ANYTHING was! Even if you go on one of those guided tours with the Ambassadors or whatever it's usually really brief and you forget where everything is by the time classes start because you usually do those tours in the middle of summer or the end of your senor year in high school. So this year on the day before classes start I'm going to offer a little service to the incoming Freshmen in my Dorm. I'm going to have those that want to meet me in my room with a copy of their schedules. Then I am going to show them where their classes are. Not only will it help them not feel so lost on their first day of classes but it will be a great way for me to get to know my residents!
This is Royer Hall where I live and Work
Love you guys!!!!!!!!
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