Some people are born leaders. Angela Yi, a sophomore Biological Sciences and Psychology major, is one of those people. She serves as both an Resident Advisor (RA) in Donner and a Supplemental Instruction (SI) instructor for Introduction to Modern Chemistry I. Both of these jobs, along with her great personality, make Angela someone to look up to and learn from.
As an RA, she has many duties. Angela reveals, โI refer to myself as โa mom of 34.โ But the RA job can be described in five roles: educator, peer advisor, community role model, emergency responder, and administrator. So specific examples of these roles would include implementing programs/activities for the community, mediating roommate conflicts, calling campus police in emergencies, helping out with the closing/opening of the dorm…the list goes on.โ
Dealing with the problems and concerns of freshmen may not seem like the most exciting job, but Angela loves every minute of it. Her favorite part? โI have so many favorite things about being an RA!โ she said, โI love being able to be awkward/making others feel awkward! I always say it’s a part of the job description. I also love seeing my girls getting really acclimated to CMU and doing things they enjoy, whether it’s through classes or getting involved in activities/student organizations like house council, SWE, buggy, greek life, acappella groups and so on. They’re all superstars, no joke.โ
Angela also loves being part of student life as well โI love getting to know all the wonderful people here and really feeling integrated in the campus community. And Iโm so lucky I get to work with the Donner Staff. They are such a great group of people,โ she said. Becoming an RA was an easy decision for her. โI like to help people,โ she said, โI’ve always felt comfortable getting to know people and trying to really understand from where they are coming from. I understand that everyone is unique and complex and I’m so curious about those characteristics. I figured I would be able to use this in the RA role to help freshmen transition into this new chapter of their lives by helping set a good foundation.โ
Not only does Angela help everyone on her floor, but she also gets to help everyone who goes to SI sessions for the introductory chemistry course. She became an SI instructor after receiving an email with an application. โI love being able to help students figure out problems and seeing their faces light up when they understand it,โ said Angela.
Angela is truly a leader and role model in the campus community. She is a great RA and SI instructor who I am lucky to know personally. Angela said, โBoth these jobs push the lines of my comfort zone in a lot of different ways. I’ve learned a lot, but there’s still a lot more to learn.โ