Staying up until 2 a.m. on weekends to monitor Sunderland Hall, hosting hallway events and creating a “home” for students in residence life are all part of the job of a resident assistant. But it’s not all fun and games — the position also provides students with a unique opportunity to work on campus and be a mentor to freshman students.
Senior biology, chemistry and Spanish major Anna Brinck is a veteran at the job. She has served as an RA for Drury University her sophomore, junior and senior years. Brinck, originally from Nixa, Mo., really loves that she can see the progression in her residents from move-in to move-out.
If a student wants to find out more about applying to be an RA, they can visit the Housing & Residence Life section of Drury’s website. The Scoop’s Taylor Perkins sat down with Brinck to discuss further what RA life is like.
When did you decide you wanted to be an RA?
Probably around second semester of my freshman year, I had a lot of friends who were on RA staff. Some of my closest friends were my RA and others in my hall, so I wanted to be like them.
What was the application process like?
So basically you have to fill out an online application with a corresponding resume and a short essay and everything. They’ll look at that and then they’ll call you back to basically “rounds” where you kind of have to go, in person, and see what your personality is like, and then you have an interview.
How has the transition from dorm life to RA been for you? Is it a lot different?
It kind of depends on what year you’re on as a RA. My sophomore year for me it was a lot different because I felt like I was still pretty young, and I was still the same age as most of the freshmen kind of thing, because I’m also kind of young for my grade. It was kind of weird because it’s like “we’re the same age but I’m supposed to be your superior sort of,” so that was kind of weird. But otherwise, at Drury it’s pretty organic so it’s easy to interact with everybody.
What is one of your favorite parts of being a RA? Why?
I honestly love seeing the transition of everybody who moved in starting their freshman year and then where they are at after their second semester of freshman year. It is a really cool thing to watch and be apart of.
Do you know people at other colleges who are RAs? Are their experiences similar or different to your own?
I actually know an RA at both Mizzou and Arkansas. Based on what I’ve heard, it’s a lot different just because they have so many more residents, like in Sunderland you have 16, they have 100 plus. For them it’s a lot more of a policy role rather than a community builder. So they basically just implement policy and that’s about it. A lot of the freshmen don’t go to them for things, they just know them as the person that does policy.
What would you tell potential students if they wanted to be RAs in the future?
Definitely look into it, look for the application process. Just kind of being yourself is the biggest thing. There’s not one person that is the RA type, it’s definitely a role for lots of different types of people, so just be yourself.
