1. Why are you interested in being an RA? What qualities do you feel an RA needs to possess in order to be successful? What qualities do you possess that align with these? Given what you know about the RA position, what challenges do you believe you would face as an RA?

I am interested becoming a Resident Assistant (RA) as I believe this is a great leadership opportunity. I want to be able to assist students as they adapt to college life as well as grow in my own life.  I feel an RA has to have excellent communication skills, as they need to speak to many different types of people. They handle many issues and need to know how to communicate clearly and effectively.  Also, RAs’ have to have a “On the go” mindset. One minute everything could be fine, yet the next they could be experiencing an intense issue. They need to be able to adapt very easily to these types of situations. Over my time at Hood, I held several leadership positions within the clubs that I have membership in. I currently am president of the Computer Science Club and Winter Sports Club. I helped to bring “Alpha Lambda Delta” to Hood and inducted the first class, my freshman year; this year I founded the Computer Science Club and organized winter sports events. In order to be successful, I feel my communication skills have helped me with all of these activities and have been able to reach out to the Hood community effectively.  I really think I would not have a hard time adapting to being a RA. Initially the challenge would be to build rapport and trust with the other students. this is where effective communication would be important as well as building onto my leadership skills to assist with (this is where my personal growth come in).


2. What do you consider an ideal residence hall community to be? How do you expect to create this type of community in your hall?

The ideal residence hall community is a group of diverse students living happily together. These students share a room in a building with others. Students who live in these halls have and can feel a part of a community they belong to. It is up to the student how much they want to participate in this community, from being on house council to just hanging out with their friends and roommates in their halls.  Students should always feel safe coming back to their room, as this is their new home. I want to help to build an environment where students feel at home. By getting to know the students in the dorm, I hope to facilitate the building of connections and camaraderie with one another. Throughout the semester I would like to arrange for group gathering activities to assist in promotion of floor to even hall unity.

3. What experiences have you had that you believe have prepared you to be an RA?
I feel that I have had many opportunities at Hood that have prepared me for this position.  The last two years I have been an overnight host for perspective students who are coming to Hood for a campus experience. This experience has begun to build my understanding of how to connect with students who are in a new environment and feeling like strangers to the campus. Being very familiar with the hood community I was able to show them around and explain the many resources available while they had an enjoyable night within the residents’ halls. This semester I am participating in a group independent study project.  I am team leader working with three other students. We are designing an “iHood” application for the iPad.  My role as team leader is to manage the group and facilitate the program development for “iHood”.  My responsibilities include scheduling progress meetings, and organizing time for the team to “Co-program.”  Most importantly I am the liaison to administration. I listen to both Administrations’ needs and the team’s needs working and communicating to ensure our deadlines are met successfully. I am enjoying this managerial position, and it has facilitated in my building leadership skills and relationships with both the Administration and the students. This position has been challenging, as I have had to be a good listener as well as communicate effectively working to maintain good group cohesiveness and moral, while producing the results our Administration is looking for.
Lastly, I have been a resident in the dorms, four out of the five semesters. I have attended school here. There have been unusual challenges that I have faced personally with roommates. I have learned and grown from these experiences as well which will further provide me with tools I could use as an RA.

4. If a student were to pull up your online profile, what impressions would they have about you and your future community within the Hood College Residence Halls?

If a future student pulled up my social networking profile, they would find a fun guy. There is of course all the basic information like who am I, where I am from, passed work experience. They would also see and find out activities and sports that I like or are involved in. I have a lot of my drag racing pictures up there. Also, just hanging out with friends on my road trip to cedar point. I do not feel there is anything I need to hide. My view on posting something on these networking sites is once it out there technically; there is no taking it away. The best way to prevent something that might be harmful later is don’t post it. They could see that I am involved in a lot of different activities and sociable. The student would get a positive, open impression of me and I hope feel welcome.