Ever since my first semester at USC, I knew I wanted to be a Resident Assistant at some point of my college career. I am not going to lie, I struggled a lot during my freshman year; getting adjusted to college classes, making friends, living by myself for the first time, it all hit me like a truck. To this day, I am so very thankful for my freshman year RA for giving me the support that I needed when I felt like I still hadn’t found my place at USC (and was doubting that I ever would). The impact they had in my life made me realize that I wanted to be able to serve as a role model for other people in that same way. After getting rejected once, I decided to apply again before my senior year, and was so happy to find out that I got accepted and got placed in the same building I lived in my freshman year! Here are my favorite things about RAing so far:
1) Support system
I knew that by serving as an RA, one of my purposes would be to provide a support system to other students, but little did I know that I would find my very own support system within my staff team. Not even in my wildest dreams did I expect to get matched with a team with some of the most hardworking, intelligent, and caring people I have ever met. The opportunity of not only working, but also living with them, has been one of my best experiences at USC. I was able to find a friend in every single one of the other 17 RAs in McCarthy Honors College and couldn’t have picked a better team to do this whole thing with. Not only have they been there for me as friends (we literally hang out all the time), but have also been amazing co-workers, supporting me in all kinds of situations and helping me figure out this whole RA job as we go!
2) My residents!
It is a very full circle moment to be back living in the same building I lived in my freshman year, seeing my residents going through the same things I went through just a few years ago (even though it seems like it was just yesterday). Being able to be there for them, not only as their RA, but also as a friend, has been beyond awesome. Going into it, I was a little worried they wouldn’t like me, or I wouldn’t be able to handle the job and portray myself as an “authority figure”, by they have thus far made my job 1000x easier! There’s something about waking up to your residents knocking on your door to give you a charcuterie board they made for you that just hits different and just warms your heart 🙂
3) The perks
Come on, I can’t lie: free housing? Free meal plan? Getting to live in the core of the USC Village, right next to the gym, Trader Joe’s/Target, and Cava? It doesn’t get much better than that. Getting to live with some of my best friends is also not so bad either!
I encourage everyone to apply for the RA position. It has changed my life in so many ways and I am very much looking forward to what’s to come in the rest of the year.
