Fitchburg State University - Saxifrage Yearbook (Fitchburg, MA)

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RA ' S ARE PEOPLE TOO! R.A. Just what does that term mean? This is a question that many new students ask, but few ever get a good answer. The answer can only be found by actually living the experience of being a Resident Assistant. The R A. is usually the first person that you meet when you come up to Fitchburg State. You are told that this person is your friend and that if you have any problems, you are to go to him. So students go to him when they have roommate problems, fami- ly difficulties, course problems or if they just get locked out of their room. Many students learn early that an R A is someone that will be there 24 hours a day if needed. Students also learn early that an RA is a bad guy . When it comes to discipline, the RA. is the person who tells you to turn down the stereo or to dump the beer out. Besides being a friend and a disciplina- rian, an R A. is a human information center. The RA. gives directions as to where your first class is, o r where to find the library. He knows how to drop and add courses and to who you should go see about it. An RA. is one person who someone can go to with a question about school and if he does not know the answer, he knows where to send you to find it. The most important thing about an RA., the area that most people forget, is that an RA. is also a student. They have course problems, family difficulties, and they have flaws. RA. ' s like to go to keg parties, like to sit around drinking a beer and just shoot the shit. This at times can cause problems. When one night you are at a keg party with someone, and the next night you must write that same person up for drinking in public, can be a very hard to do. The RA. ' s job is rough and not meant for everyone. It ' s hearing other people ' s prob- lems when you have enough of your own or being woken up at 4 in the morning be- cause someone needs to be let into their own room. The job, however, is a way of meeting many great people and a way of growing as a person. The job can be very satisfying and a lot of fun. So in answer to what is an R A , an R A. is a person like you and me. 14