While studying at Carnegie Mellon University, I had the unique opportunity to be a part of the residential experience. After witnessing the impact of my own RA (Resident Assistant) and Residential House Staff during my freshman year, I applied for the RA role in my sophomore and junior years. In between these two years, I also worked a similar role over the summer as a Pre-College Counselor for visiting high school students. In my senior year, I worked as a Community Advisor, whom has the special role of overseeing the full house community's operation, supervising the RAs in the building, and working alongside the professional Housefellow of the community.
Community Advisor: The Community Advisor (CA) role is a unique one not offered at many universities or other residential programs. The CA role is more than a "promoted/senior RA"; the CA is also a partner to the Housefellow in order to keep the house community running successfully day-to-day. In my role, I was the CA for an apartment-style living community of 261 upperclassmen residents and 8 RAs, all working together to bring a traditionally separated community together through event programming, community engagement, and opportunities for growth. Some highlights of this role include planning large outings for our residents (eg. apple picking, paintball), coordinating and running weekly meetings for the residential team, and managing an $8000 yearly budget for educational programs for residents (main topics included: professional development, health and wellness, environmentialism, and diversity & inclusion).
Resident Assistant: In this role I provided leadership to about 600 students (sophomore year in Fairfax Apartments: 381 upperclassmen & graduate students; junior year in Morewood Gardens E-Tower: 209 freshmen students) in both apartment-style and dormitory living, with my floor containing 40-52 students. I created and promoted many specialized events for my residents to promote personal development and continued learning, including events where residents cooked dinners from all around the world together, personal sessions where I taught a series of audio technology and production skills to residents, and trips to get out to visit the local festivals of Pittsburgh, like Light Up Night.
Pre-College Counselor: The Pre-College Program at Carnegie Mellon University allows current high school students the opportunity to experience an undergraduate college experience for 6 weeks during the summer. In line with college experience, I was hired as a counselor for the program, acting mostly as an RA for the 550 high school students under a total staff of 41. While many of the skills and events carried over from the RA experience, there are some differences when working with minors. Overall, this was an amazing experience that I wish I had known about sooner, and it was very fulfilling to see my residents graduate from the program and help them experience their first few years of university.