If you could touch the hearts of many, how would you do it? For resident assistant Taimul Hoque, his way of reaching out to the Berks community is through his outgoing nature, funny blurbs, and great bod. But who is Taimul outside of this RA role?
Tai spends majority of his time, lifting weights, — but not in the douchey/tool way — playing basketball, dancing, and overall being active. But one of Tai’s most recognizable interests is music, more particularly his love for the rapper, Drake. “I love Drake — Drake is Life,” as he so elegantly states.
Tai, is an IST major from Hanover, Pennsylvania; however, his interesting fact is that he was born in Bangladesh until he was 4 before he moved to the America. Although he doesn’t remember much from the experience, Tai exclaims that this is one of the factors that makes him ‘cool’. Despite the fact that he doesn’t remember a lot from Bangladesh, Tai is happy with his life in Pennsylvania and his college experience at Berks.
His fondest memory by far at Berks was Freshmen Orientation of this past year. While playing icebreaker games, and hanging out with the freshmen, RA’s and OL’s, Tai explains that the experience was something that he won’t soon forget. Although the day under the sun was hot, Tai was excited to officially start his role as an RA in a great way. “Trying to break freshmen out of their comfort zone and having fun was a great experience,” Tai adds.
However, before the RA position, Tai lived in the Village. It would be the warm-hearted and social nature of another RA that would inspire Tai to pursue the job. Markeese Warner, a senior RA, has inspired many of her residents to pursue the RA position, and Tai felt fortunate enough to have her. “I think the reason I even thought about being an RA was because of Markeese. Just her presence was incredible,” Tai praises. Markeeses’ influence on her floor inspired Tai to be an RA after he discovered that she wasn’t only an RA, but a friend as well.
And that’s when I thought, ‘Markeese is cool and she’s an RA, so I can be cool and be an RA too,’ And that’s when I told myself you’re going to be an RA,” he jokes playfully.
Although there are many challenges with the RA position, there are also many golden opportunities as well. For Tai, he gained more than amazing friends, he also got the opportunity to let his personality shine beyond his personal circle of friends. “I’ve never been given the opportunity to be a leader, so I feel like the RA position has given me the chance to stand up and meet people. I like the sense of people coming to me with questions and concerns, and I can help them with my advice.” Overall, occasionally hanging out with his residents in the 3rd floor Willow lounge, and creating the many bonds with the other RA’s on staff, as well as ProStaff, has made his experience as an RA a great one.
However, that’s not to say that there aren’t some dull moments in the position either. Although many RA’s would attest to having to staying up late for situations, lockouts, and other inconveniences, one thing that frustrates Tai the most is his bulletin boards.
“My least favorite part about this position is doing the bulletin boards. Imma be straight-up honest, all I do is put up papers, but for pretty much all of my bulletin boards I’ve been putting up papers. No lie, I don’t even have any shame on that. To me, that’s creativity! I hate doing bulletin boards, but you know what I find it creative in a sense that I can just put up papers and it looks good, you know?” Other RA’s would argue this and exclaim that bulletin boards was their favorite part of the job. However, Tai is an exception.
Each RA has their own preferences and finds their own rewards in their position. The diversity of the RA team is what helps the team stand strong. It would be a lie to say that RA Tai didn’t contribute to this team in his own, unique and comical way. For RA Rounds with Taimul, if you remember nothing about this student leader, remember his smile, his positive attitude, and the way he can always make you laugh. Oh, and his affinity for Drake, that too.
All photography used in RA Rounds is supported by Emilio Figueroa, CEO of E.F Photography.