Letter to the Editor draft 1

To the Editor:
I say thank you to Lisa W. Foderaro’s Sunday article, “Free Room and Board Give a Job New Allure,” (March 22) for, one, calling attention to RAs and two, for recognizing that the negative state of the economy is a tremendous force behind the spike in Resident Assistant applications across US universities and colleges.
The article does a very good job of presenting the fact that the economy is causing the resident adviser (or assistant) position to seem far more enticing to students than before because of the high financial benefits attached to the job title. At my own school, Texas Christian University, we have witnessed a dramatic increase as well. Heather Miller, Assistant Director of TCU Residential Life reported [waiting on her to email the statistics…]
What the piece failed to fully mention or discuss are the hardships and immense stress that comes from being an RA. Students, parents, universities, and potential RA candidates need to be wholly aware that the job is NOT “part therapist, part event planner, part enforcer” as Foderaro mistakenly claims. We are FULLY therapists, FULLY event planners, FULLY enforcers, and most importantly FULLY human. I assume that Foderaro has never been a resident assistant and therefore can only rely on other RAs testimony and her observation, but I have been a resident assistant for one year and am about to begin a new semester, but with female freshmen residents. All aspects of the job should have been covered or at least alluded to, for example, the 5 o’clock wakeup call from a resident that is locked outside the building; creating door decorations so the occupants and other people can know who lives in which room, filing a lot of paper work for safety, informational purposes; checking students in and out of the halls for move- in and move-out; trying to build individual relationships and a residential community with a very diverse group of people; while simultaneously being a full-time student and try to have a normal student life .
Foderaro could have also interviewed resident advisors from universities not from the East Coast. If her argument is that the foul state of the economy is the reason for the stark increase in resident assistant applications, then it would make more sense to interview RAs from across the country to exemplify that claim more effectively. The economy is affecting everyone, some are being hit harder than others, but nonetheless, we are all feeling it.
As stated before, the author gives no insight into her own experiences with RAs, but within the article, readers should have been put on alert to the difficulties of the job and emphasized those individuals considering the job need to understand that it is not a part-time job, but instead a twenty-four hour call of duty. Having personally seen people hired that do not deserve the job, more consideration needs to be taken on the part of the applicants assessing their own maturity level, ability to multitask, and responsibility skills for caring for people and tasks, exciting and unwanted.
It is horribly cliché, but every RA can agree, there is more than meets the eye when you are a resident assistant.


Kanika Nevers
Word Count: 533