When you enter Kuhlman Hall, there’s a section of a wall that says “You’ve Got a Friend In Me” featuring all 13 RAs in the hall. One of them is Carmen Brown. She is well loved by her residents, proven by all the nice things they had to say about Carmen:
“Carmen is a great RA because every time she sees me she stops to say hi and asks how I’m doing.” – Sela Brazier
“Carmen is awesome! She’s super nice and friendly. It is cool to see her around campus because she always smiles and says hi.” – Lauren Dencker
“She’s so happy all the time. Every time I see her, she makes sure to hi.” – Natalie Mitchell
“Carmen is awesome. She’s super helpful and tries to get all the girls involved. She emails about different events on-campus so we know what’s going on.” – Libby Schnulo
“Every time I see her, she asks about my day. She really cares about her residents. She is a friend more so than an RA. She a role model. She invites us to go to events with her to help keep us involved.” – Rileigh Miranda
“She’s always cheerful and bubbly.” – Monica Hutten.
After sitting down for an interview with Carmen, it’s super easy to realize why she is so well loved; she really is one of the nicest people around. She chose to become a RA for two reasons. First of all, because of the skills that it gives her: communication skills, patience, time management, and problem solving skills, just to name a few. Secondly, she wanted to be an RA because she wanted to make a positive impact on people’s lives. For Carmen, the best part about being an RA are the skills she’s acquired and the positive relationships she’s built with her residents. In her own words, “It’s always important to have good relationships with people.”
Sara Donnelly, the Kuhlman Hall director, says that, “Carmen is very focused. She’s very willing to put all of herself into any project she has going on.” Carmen’s motivation is rooted in her “theme song”: “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. She says it keeps her motivated and reminds to never stop believing in whom she is. She also finds inspiration in the poem “Don’t Quit” by an unknown author (sometimes the best things in life are unknown). Unsurprisingly, if Carmen were given a brick, she’d paint an inspirational quote on then use it as a paperweight.
Carmen is a junior at Xavier, so she tends to be very busy. It makes sense that, if given an extra hour in a day, she says she would spend it relaxing; she would love to go on an all-expenses paid trip to the Bahamas, because the beach is a great place to relax. Her room is her favorite spot on campus.
How was Xavier blessed with Carmen? She simply fell in love with campus. Her favorite thing about X is the small class sizes. There are few schools where you can have that one-on-one interaction with your professors. As a Philosophy, Politics, and the Public (PPP) major, it’s not much of a surprise that one of her favorite classes is philosophy or that she would use a time machine to experience history for herself.
Carmen also has a wonderful sense of humor. She feels that if she were a food, she would be french fries, because they’re good and make her happy. She also believes that squirrels are all right, as long as they keep their distance. Carmen would love to meet Beyoncé mainly to find out how she lost all that weight after having kids. Carmen also would never suggest anyone see the movies The Spring Breakers or 50 Shades of Grey, two movies she wishes she could un-see. However she would encourage everyone to see Frozen, which is her favorite Disney movie, mostly because “You can’t marry a man you just met.”
Thanks for the interview Carmen! Oh, and one last quote from Lauren Trester: “I heard she does car commercials in Japan.”