RA Struggles

During the 2021 spring semester, one year into the pandemic, there have been significantly fewer students on the Champlain campus. Despite this, the stress and workload of current Residential Advisors remain.

RA’s at Champlain College claims to be having a more challenging time during these months of isolation since there are new regulations and additional tasks they have to follow up with that have added more weight to their responsibilities. Many people want to work as RAs for various benefits such as free housing on campus but question whether it is really worth it, given all the challenges they’re faced with.

One challenge Emily Emery, an advisor at Juniper Hall, struggles with at times is not having friends around. This might seem like an ongoing issue for many but can be particularly challenging given the stress of being an RA. While surrounded by other students, it’s in an advisory capacity and that relationship may not be as supportive as a more traditional friendship.

One of the most noteworthy aspects of being an RA is that the job requires much more personal investment than almost any other job on campus. RAs carry their own burdens, but they may also have to deal with dorm residents’ personal problems as well.

RA’s are also now required to do weekly check-ins with students that oftentimes want their privacy and to be left alone. “In general, checking in on residents has done more good than bad” Emery says. “But I miss those days when people would come up to me for genuine connections.”

These check-ins have added around three to four hours of RA duties as well as the events they now have to plan for the halls every other week to provide quarantining students with some form of socialization. Often, barely anyone shows up to these events, choosing instead to entertain themselves. “On a regular occasion I would be more disappointed but, I’m at least satisfied with the fact that the residents have come up with their own show/movie nights.” Luckily for her, residents in the dorms managed to bond and often come up with activities for themselves like ping pong nights, movies, and other activities. But that is not the case in every dorm on campus.

As part of her job, she used to like the crowded outdoor events on campus where residents went to meet one another. However, with all the new restrictions and incoming students not being able to socialize as much as they would have, the struggle of making them feel welcomed in their new home just seems to escalate with time.

When asked how she coped with all of the added stress, Emery said that she goes to counseling and enjoys it very much. “It’s just space where I can vent about the things residents come up to me about and also my own emotional baggage too.”

By Minerva Paulino

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