English 111

The RA Stereotype

It was Halloween night at Boston College. Thousands of college students dressed up as sexy nurses and ghetto basketball players. Music roared from dorm room to dorm room. It was the ultimate party night, the kind of night every college student dreamed of. At last, tensions of the school year could be released through the Halloween spirit and the socializing effect of alcohol.

Unfortunately for some students, Halloween night meant only one thing: more work. Brett Erhardt, the residential adviser for Fitzpatrick dorm, tried to have a low-key night. He sat in his door room watching his favorite gruesome horror movies. Every hour, he paused his T.V and left his room to do rounds. This meant checking the dorm for any illegal activity. As he got up from his couch to do his 1am shift, he heard a loud, crashing noise. Brett still remembers the event vividly, “I got up from my room and heard some strange noises coming from the bathroom.” As Brett opened the boy’s bathroom, his attention turned abruptly to three drunken girls. The three girls, all dressed up as sailors, were peeing in the urinals. “They literally had their pants pulled down, butts flat out on the urinal. I’ve seen a lot, but this was a once in a lifetime experience,” Brett recalls.

Brett Erhardt, my brother, is a residential adviser at Boston College. A residential adviser, or RA, is a student assigned to assist in the well being of a dorm. His responsibilities include being an enforcer of university policy, being an avenue for advice, and counsel, and being a facilitator of Boston College social life. RAs are required to be available at all times when they are in the dorm to help out their residents. As well, they have designated shifts during the night in order to enforce university policy. In return for this massive time commitment, RAs receive free room and board at college. That is worth 15,000 dollars a year at Boston College.

Why do students choose to become RAs? Is it simply because of the financial incentives? Brett said that for him it was a couple reasons, “First off, I didn’t have housing junior year so I was looking for a way to stay on campus. As well, I really like helping people get acclimated to the BC community and felt this was my way of giving back to Boston College.” It is important to note not everyone has such altruistic reasons. When asked if he felt the majority of RAs joined because of this sense of responsibility, Brett answered, “Probably not. I’d assume a lot of people do it for financial reasons or to boost their resume, but the truth is initial motivation aside, things change after you’ve been an RA for a couple months.”

The process of getting accepted to be a RA is pretty rigorous. There is an admissions staff, interview process and in depth application. Not to mention it is very competitive. The main concern of the admissions committee is whether the student will be a successful RA. If not, the applicant is immediately rejected. Once they pass that key criterion, the committee wants to know what each candidate will bring that is unique to the RA community. They don’t care why the candidate wants to be an RA, simply whether he is willing to open up to the, “process of being an RA”.

What does the “process of being an RA” refer to? Essentially, it means once you are accepted to be an RA you need to go through rigorous training. However, this isn’t typical job training. Brett argues that. “ RA training is more like an initiation into a community than learning how to be an RA. Yes, you learn the ins and outs, but the majority of training is a series of icebreakers and group work with the goal to open you up.” The RA community at Boston College prides itself on being overly energetic, overly outgoing. RA training serves as an effort to indoctrinate you into the RA personality. Most importantly, RA training serves as a bonding process. Brett expressed this notion when reflecting on his training experience, “RA training lasts for weeks in which for all day you go from session to session talking and talking till your blue in the face. There is nothing like going through the same tedious experience that brings people together.”

That begs the question: Does the RA community have its own culture or is it simply a job? In a sense it is job like with weekly staff meetings and concrete responsibilities. Yet, at the same time being an RA is a way of life. Brett elaborates stating, “ Most of your college friends are living in a totally different place than you. It forces you to look to the RA community to solidify your social life.” I asked Brett if he felt his RA friends were different from his other friends. “ Not necessarily personality wise, but my relationship with them is different. My RA friends are much realer friends because you are never really in the party atmosphere with them. The whole RA community has to bond together in a very different way than typical college friends do.”

I have witnessed this difference in friendships with my own RA, Brian. I see the way he interacts with fellow RA’s. The way he hangs out in his room talking with his RA friends. They don’t joke about something stupid they did on a Saturday night or what girls they want to hook up with. They have deep conversations about things that really matter. I remember one time in which I was strolling back from the bathroom. I heard Brian talking with Jim, a fellow RA. Brian and Jim were discussing their hopes and dreams for the future. It was astonishing to witness two college students having a serious heart to heart conversation. It completely destroyed my stereotype of college students only talking about parties and girls.

Being a part of the RA community separates you from the rest of the Boston College community. At the very least, it separates you from the social scene. Most RA’s are upperclassman living on upper campus while their friends all hang out on lower campus, a twenty-minute walk from upper campus. This coupled with various night shifts complicates efforts to hang out with friends. Brett agrees, stating, “As an RA you need to make a conscious effort to reengage with the social scene. You need to make that effort to go to lower. Make that effort to see your friends. At the same time there is always that feeling that you are always on the job, you are always an RA. When you go to parties you carry that stigmatism.”

I asked Brett if he could recall a specific event in which he felt like he was “always on the job.” In his answer he got really sincere and I could sense a shift in the interview. This question really affected him personally. He started to talk about how at parties his friends would constantly joke about him being an RA.  If he was even near alcohol they would collectively yell, “Hey RA taking shots, look over here.” In the moment he would laugh it off, but it was clear he felt a divide. He knew it was all for fun, but deep down being an RA was defining him.
There are clear stereotypes of RA’s at Boston College. Many Boston College students consider them the people that get you in trouble. Others characterize them as the social outcasts who want to ruin everyone else’s good time. Certainly, being an RA does not bring great respect at Boston College. However, maybe it should. Brett often feels disheartened when he hears students complaining about RA’s getting them in trouble. “People need to know our primary role isn’t to get people in trouble. We’re here to help. People forget that. Personally, I feel if residents took the time to get to know their RA’s they would see that and quite frankly a lot of them do.”

I have experienced first hand the positive effect an RA can have. At the beginning of the school year, I started to feel that I was no longer meeting new people. I felt that the cliques were forming and I was stuck. At first, it felt awkward to go to my RA for help, but it was worth it. Brian advised me to join different organizations and to go on campus retreats. I soon realized that RA’s are filled with a wealth of knowledge and insight. I can say first hand that an RA is more than an authority figure.

Is it worth being an RA? Brett responded sternly, “ It is a big time commitment, in which at times I feel overwhelmed. I certainly don’t enjoy getting people in trouble, especially people I like.” On top of these challenges a lot of people forget that RA’s are turning down an opportunity at a traditional college experience. They don’t get to be drunk for 48 hours. They don’t get to tailgate before the football games or go clubbing every Thursday night. There are some serious restrictions caused by their role in the BC community. At the same time, Brett feels there are some major plusses,  “ It is really fun to watch your residents go from being really scared and shy initially to in the end putting themselves out there and contributing to the Boston College community. Knowing you were a part of that is an amazing feeling.”

In the end it is evident that being a RA is a tough job. There needs to be an internal motivation that drives you to make sacrifices. Early in the interview, Brett discussed how his motivations for being an RA changed after a couple months. This stemmed from a realization that being an RA is more than a job. Therefore, there needs to be more than a financial incentive to be motivated. It has to be something you truly love to do. Brett claims he was able to reach that newfound motivation, “Overall, I really have enjoyed it. But I really enjoy dealing with crisis’s and expanding my leadership skills.” It seems Brett is giving fair warning to newcomers. They need to ask themselves is this what they really want? Brett claims he is happy with his decision, but warns not everyone would be, “I don’t view being an RA as a job. Yes, I get money out of the situation, but if all being an RA is to you is a way to save money you are better off getting a full time job. Trust me the hours you put in being an RA is equivalent to a full time job.”

After my interview with Brett and my personal observations of the RA community, it is difficult for me to decide whether I want to be an RA. Yet, I guess that’s point. Every person needs to make that decision for himself. Being an RA is difficult work that at the same time provides benefits that no other opportunities at college offer. It is big decision to choose to be an RA that requires deep reflection into whether you are ready to enter the RA community.

Overall, the Boston College RA community is pretty unique compared to the run of the mill student population. It is a group of people brought together for different reasons. It is a group of people who are forced to bond with one another in an effort to salvage a social life. It is a group of people who take pride in what they do even when they don’t receive the rightful appreciation. The RA community seems like it is simply a workforce community. However, it is more than that. Being a RA isn’t just a job. It is a way of life.

–Colin Erhardt, 2008