Megan is the RA on 4th floor of Fields Hall and this week I wanted to share with you all how awesome she is!! Being an RA can be tough at times but Megan handles everything and everyone wonderfully. Megan was in Salzburg last year and came back as an RA this year. She is very helpful with anything you need and also very open and committed to every student in her hall, in fields, and on campus. She has made me feel like a part of the fields hall community and is commited to doing the best she can as an RA.
Q: Why did you want to become an RA?
Megan: I really enjoyed my own RA when I was a freshman and she was always helpful. It made me feel like I should give back to the community and share my good experiences. I want every freshman to have the great experience I had. I also really enjoy the community of dorm life.
Q: You were in Salzburg last year, was it difficult to become an RA while abroad?
Megan: The application is online so it was the same in that aspect, but the interview process was a little more challenging. I had to do the interview using Skype, which was more challenging because a) the time change and b) I felt like they did not get a good sense of who I was through a screen, especially with the people I didn’t know. I also was slightly nervous because if I didn’t become a RA I wouldn’t have housing for the next school year.
Q: What is your favorite memory so far? What made it special?
Megan: So far my favorite memory was freshman move-in day. I was so excited to have the hall full of people. I have 67 high energy residents and living in an empty dorm was very quiet. The best part about this day in particular was the positive energy everyone showed. I also was excited to finally put faces to the names I had been waiting to meet.
Q: Do you participate in any other activities? Is being an RA a full time job?
Megan: Being an RA is definitely a full time job. While I may not always be “on duty,” I am always on the job because I am always surrounded by my residents where I live in the dorm and on campus. I am part of E-Scholars, which is an entrepreneurship program that involves a fair amount of outside time commitment. I am also a normal college student tying to figure out and balance my life.
Q: What piece of advice do you have for people who want to be RAs?
Megan: It is a much bigger commitment than you could ever imagine. It’s much more than just monitoring the halls and making sure there are not major disturbances. When there are hard times in the dorm, it affects you. But overall it has helped me learn a lot about leadership and it helps me balance the different aspects of my life.
Q: How do you strike the balance between being a friend and authority figure?
Megan: This is a hard question for me because I have found that I don’t want to be an authority figure unless I have to be. I want to connect with everyone and therefore I am a friend, but I also know when to draw the line. I do find it hard to consistently scold people because sometimes they stop taking me seriously.
Q: What is the most challenging part of being an RA?
Megan: I find it hard to separate my personal life from the job. Everyone has problems, big and small, in their lives and I tend to absorb most of the problems just because I am here to help and support everyone. It’s really hard when there are difficult times in the dorms because everyone in the community is affected I feel like everything always happens at once and it can be hard to handle.
If you see Megan around campus give her a high five for being a great RA!!!
Thanks for everything you do Megan! :)