Wayne State College resident assistants are tasked with ensuring students are kept safe and comfortable while living in the college’s dorm halls. Autumn Badeer, a junior at Wayne State College studying Criminal Justice, offered insight on what it like to be an RA of Berry Hall for a day. 

Badeer said her favorite part about being an RA is the opportunities it has given her. 

“I love my residents and I love getting to see how close everyone is to each other in Berry Hall,” Badeer said. “Being an RA gives you a unique opportunity to get to know a wide variety of people and it pushes you to lead by example while growing alongside your peers.” 

Badeer also said RA’s face many challenges on a day–to–day basis. She also said she believes the position has changed her as a person. “I think it’s sometimes difficult for me to balance the job on top of my class load of 15 credits, my friendships and relationships and finding time to take care of myself as well,” Badeer said. “Ultimately, through this challenge I have learned how to manage my time better. It can also be difficult to lead people that are your own age and set the example for them, but again, this only make you grown even more. I have become more assertive, confident and overall a stronger leader through some of the decisions I have made. My residents have also taught me so much about community, friendship and growth, and I feel like I am becoming a more well-rounded person because of them.” 

Badeer said her job as an RA comes with many responsibilities. “Most of the work I do is community building, which doesn’t even feel like work because it’s genuinely fun,” Badeer said. “Other jobs I do involve putting on programs, responding to emergencies or other issues in my residence hall, working at the desk and creating bulletin boards and door decorations for my residents.” 

“I like to put informational flyers throughout Berry Hall of events going on around campus, as well as simply reaching out to people I don’t know very well yet,” Badeer said. “I have found that just saying hi and introducing yourself to someone can go a long way in making someone feeling included after getting to know someone. I invite them to social events I put on or tell them about clubs they could get involved in on campus.” 

Badeer said throughout her experience as an RA, she was trained to deal with some hard or even awkward situations. “During RA training, we practice responding to many different hard situations and learn from professional staff as well as experienced RA’s,” Badeer said. “Our supervisors are also very helpful and work alongside us in emergency situations, so you are never truly working alone as an RA. I would say most of the experience and training comes from the real-life hard situations, which is why it is so helpful to have other leaders alongside you.” 

Badeer also said she has some advice and reasons she believes students should consider trying it. “I would say that if you care about people, have a desire to lead and you like a bit of a challenge, you should go for it,” Badeer said. “It’s an excellent way to grow in your experience, knowledge, confidence and ability to interact and work with all kinds of people. You also get to work with other RA’s in your building and create some amazing friendships. If you feel like this job is a little bit out of your comfort zone, that’s a good thing, because that’s when the most growth happens.”