Other students are often confused when I tell them I’m a proud resident assistant (RA) in a first-year building and that I deliberately chose to be an RA for first-years. In fact, being a first-year RA has been my favorite part of my Georgetown University experience to date.
I can understand my peers’ confusion — Georgetown isn’t known for having glamorous housing, and generations of students have unfortunate tales of the facility breakdowns they have experienced. On top of that, the RA position isn’t the most prestigious job one could have on campus, let alone at a competitive school like Georgetown. However, I strongly maintain that despite its lack of prestige, being an RA at Georgetown is one of the best positions a student can hold on campus, not simply because it comes with substantial financial benefits, but because it is a position primed for making a meaningful impact on other students. Moreover, I believe the best way to make this type of impact is through simple intentionality.
Intentionality is a breath of fresh air in an environment like Georgetown, where life often feels rushed. It’s a lifestyle driven by purpose behind every action, where students choose to take initiative rather than waiting passively for others. Everyone has the ability to practice intentionality at Georgetown, but I believe an RA’s intentionality holds special power because RAs are inherently seen as student mentors on campus. Current RAs ought to recognize the effect their intentionality can have, and I urge students who are not RAs to consider applying or to find ways to practice intentionality in their own campus roles.
RAs have immense potential to make an impact on Georgetown’s campus through the formation of meaningful relationships with their residents. The RA position is more than just duty shifts, filing incident reports and completing room checks — tasks I consider to be side responsibilities that happen to come along with my job. The mission of an RA is about cultivating relational depth with residents to help them lead lives at Georgetown that reflect their full potential. These efforts speak volumes at a school like Georgetown, where a focus on academic and career success often chokes out opportunities for meaningful connection. Relationships — not a successful career, physical health or wealth — have been shown to be the top predictor of overall life happiness and satisfaction, especially by an ongoing Harvard University longitudinal study conducted over 80 years and multiple generations starting from 1938. This, alongside my Protestant faith that maintains that loving others is a natural outflow of deep love from God, is my biggest motivator as an intentional RA.
With the flexibility the RA position offers, I’ve been able to personalize my RA practices. Some pillars include my weekly HospitaliTEA hours — a whimsical title for my open door tea-time hours. I also hold weekly common room times, where every Thursday night we congregate as a floor to do something fun like bake or play board games. As someone whose love language is words of affirmation, I’ve also added a personal touch to my RA approach by writing each of my residents a handwritten letter throughout the semester to encourage them and invite them to get coffee or a meal so I can interact with them on a deeper level. I’ve seen these rhythms pay off in the day-to-day relationships I share with my residents, as my residents and I have gotten to share our lives with one another beyond the confines of structured RA programming. Week after week, I’ve closely witnessed the growth my residents have undergone during the roller coaster of their first year. I’ve followed up on developments — friendships formed, clubs joined, test grades received, homesickness overcome — over the course of their semester while remaining a constant beacon of support amidst all the changes they’re experiencing. My residents say they’ve felt not only supported by me but also by each other, as I’ve watched them get to know each other on a deeper level. They’ve felt more cared for, less lonely and more emboldened to face the world of Georgetown.
It’s through digging my heels in to be present and intentional on my floor that I’ve been able to fully plumb the depths of what being an RA really entails and experience the joy that comes from the responsibility of being a student mentor. Through building a home for others at Georgetown, I’ve found it to increasingly feel like home for me, too.
Georgetown is full of students, especially first-years, who need to know that they’re valued members of our community, which is why it is essential to protect the value of RA intentionality. One way to promote this is by advocating for fairness in RA employment benefits and treatment — important work that is being furthered by the efforts of Georgetown’s RA union. It also takes the bold advocacy of RAs who love their jobs and unapologetically share why their role brings them joy. Perhaps it also takes a deeper cultural shift — a return to seeing meaningful relationships as the foundation of a satisfied life rather than wealth or career success. This shift can start at Georgetown with a handful of proudly intentional RAs.
Natasha Sung is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences.
