A quest

My RA is probably the coolest person on the planet. She's smart and funny and kind and helpful and she leaves us little notes on our doors that make us feel all special and she's basically everything an RA should be. She is so much so that she actually made me want to become an RA myself.

I kind of toyed around with the idea a little and of course, as there is with all things, there were several pros and cons. For example RA's live by themselves. That's a pro and a con. On one hand, it will be nice to have that extra privacy, but on the other I like having a roommate. Pro: I'll get to meet new people (your residents and the other RA's in your hall). Con: I fear I might lose touch with the friends I have now. Pro: I'll get to plan programs and get my residents involved with campus life. Con: My residents might not be even mildly interested in anything I plan for them.

After everything was said and done, I felt that the "pro" list outweighed the "con" list so I decided to pick up an application.

Now, the application had about three or four pages of things to initial saying that you're willing to take on all of these responsibilities as an RA. Admittedly, it was a wee bit daunting to look through, but after reading it all carefully, I felt like there was nothing on that list that I would be unable to handle.

Onward I pressed.

I continued to the essay section that had nine mandatory and one optional question to answer in 250 words or less. After a day or two of thought, I decided to get started on at least one question just to get things going. With finals preparation, finals themselves, and Christmas break, it took me about two months to complete the essays.

But, of course I'm going to think I'm going to make a great RA or else I wouldn't be applying. The Hall Directors needed some outside opinions so I had to procure recommendations from a couple of people from back home and one from my own RA. After some mild difficulty, all of the recommendations were obtained and all I really needed to do was to proof read my essays and turn everything in.

Shortly after turning in what I was positive to be my complete application, I received an e-mail from my hall director telling me that one of my reference forms was missing. I searched through absolutely everything in a dead panic and was still unable to find it.

On the verge of tears, I asked my RA what I should do and as it turns out, she was in a similar situation last year. She told me to e mail the hall director and explain that I had looked through everything and was unable to find the missing form and offer him my reference's contact information so the hall director could contact him with any questions.

The storm passed, and I'm no longer too worried about it, but I'm certainly nowhere near the end of the application process. Each applicant had to sign up for a group interview for four hours. I'm a little nervous because even though my RA discussed more or less what is going to happen, I still don't have a great idea about the whole procedure.

I'm confident (and my RA is, too) I’ll do well after I know what's happening, and meeting new people certainly has never put me off, so wish me luck and I'll keep you posted.