By Katie Hoffman, Student Reporter
The deadline to become a lifeline is fast approaching. Jan. 30 at 5 p.m. marks the final date to submit resident assistant applications to the front desk of McDonald Hall.
Along with the application, two letters of reference, a thoughtful and well-written cover letter responding to listed questions and a résumé are required for consideration.
Applicants must meet certain guidelines for acceptance, including a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher, good standing with the university and a full-time student (12 hours or more) designation. They also must have lived in an ACU residence hall and completed 24 semester hours at the university. Applicants must be “familiar with hall emergency procedures and protocols” and willing to “limit outside activities during the period of employment to a maximum of 20 hours per week and attend all training sessions and orientation meetings.”
An RA’s work-life balance is only one of the many perks that prompted Alaina Love, freshman nursing major from Overland Park, Kan., to apply. For Love, the job just made sense: she gets along well with younger people and was a peer mentor in the past. The compensation also was appealing – the job’s benefits are a free, private room and a $1,280 stipend.
As Love can testify, RAs are important because they ensure all residents a stable friend-mentor relationship among the sometimes-tumultuous college experience. By planning bonding activities like gamenights, bonfires, movie nights and pancake nights, RAs bring residents together in a fun and safe environment where forming meaningful relationships is easy. They also do a lot behind the scenes, such as praying for residents, resolving disputes, directing residents to appropriate resources and even initiating tough conversations or disciplinary actions.
Lindsey Sobolik, senior art major from Dallas and RA, stressed the importance of forming community in the sometimes impersonal residence halls.
“It’s been good to learn a whole lot about how to lead, how to create community and what community looks like,” she said. “Not just community like of family or friends, but community among a group of people.”
Through the experience, Sobolik said she has acquired all of the sought-after skills advertised in the RA job description: “Christ-centered leadership, communication (written and verbal), honesty and integrity, teamwork skills, a strong work ethic, flexibility and adaptability, interpersonal skills, organizational skills and creativity.”
Although Sobolik initially had doubts about her ability to handle the job, she said continuous prayer confirmed the calling.
She said to aspiring RAs, “If you really want to and have a heart for it, then you’ll have an awesome time and enjoy every minute of it.”
For a detailed RA job description and application, visit http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/residencelife/employment.html.
