It is nine o’clock on Thursday night. Ally Carrol, the R.A. on duty in Xavier, sits at the front desk signing guests into the building. She expects the night to be pretty typical.
“I start the night off signing people in the building from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. then I do my rounds. I check the building to make sure people are not drinking in the hallways or getting out of control,” Carrol said.
Ten minutes after nine a fight unexpectedly breaks out. Two freshmen boys begin to argue because one of them was having a conversation with Ally, and the other boy rudely interrupted.
“Do you want to start something,” the one boy says to the other.
“Bring it,” the other boy says, as he begins to take off his hat and necklace preparing to fight. As the bickering between the two gets louder, other boys walking through the building enter the scene causing a complete uproar. The entrance to Xavier is filled with people.
Ally looks puzzled and finally intervenes. She tells the boys to knock it off and to walk away from each other.
They listen to her, and begin to walk away from the front desk with looks of frustration upon their faces. Two seconds later the one boy yells an obscenity towards the other, starting the fight up again.
Ally is now fed up and needs the director of Residence life for Xavier to step in and take control. The two boys are separated and are talked to individually.
Ally shakes her head and says, “It is not always like this. Thursday night tends to be more chaotic then say a Monday night because people are drinking, but nothing really this dramatic goes on. The freshmen are pretty good.”
Thursday night better known as “Thirsty Thursday” on the Cabrini College Campus is the most anticipated night of the week for most students.
For Danielle Chominski, a sophomore Thursday night is her favorite night of the week.
“I look forward to Thursday night because everyone is out on campus having a good time. It’s nice to take a break after a long hard week of work,” Chominski said.
For an RA however, sometimes it is the most stressful and dreaded night of the week. They do not get a break on Thursday night to party with their friends. Instead they must act as an authority figure and monitor the festivities that take place during the night. An RA must use their best judgment and take control of unwanted situations such as fights and intervene if necessary. They take on the responsibility of making sure everyone in their building is safe and not endangering others. The RA’s must take crap from students when they don’t want to obey the rules.
“Students seem to think that we make the rules, but we are just here to enforce them and to make sure that everyone is safe here on campus,” Carrol said.
With all this negativity associated with being an RA, why would anyone want this job? What are the benefits of being an RA? These are questions some students seem to want to know when considering the job of an R.A.
“The best part about being an RA, besides having your room and board paid for is having relationships with all of the kids in the building. You really become close to the people in your building, especially the people in your hall way,” Carrol said.
Susan Moraca, sophomore chemistry major, would not mind being an R.A. “Partying and drinking is not that important to me. Being an RA shows that you have leadership abilities and it looks good on a resume,” Moraca said.
Danielle Chominski, a sophomore feels differently.
“I would never want to be a RA. I value my free time too much and I know that being and RA takes a lot of hard work and dedication. I don’t have the right qualities because I am too busy as it is, Chominski says.
Spending just an hour and a half with an R.A demonstrates the value of respect R.A’s deserve. They put up with everything form people sneaking in guest, to breaking up fights. Carrol sums it up, “It’s an interesting job and you learn a lot.”
Posted to the web by Cecelia Francisco
