Fire was a common theme of my RA career. The fire system in the building where I worked was brand new. "Brand new" is like code word for "will malfunction frequently." And, because it was brand new, it was up to some new fire code standard of loudness.
We evacuated many times. Two particular times stand out. The first, someone actually shot off a fire-extinguisher so that many residents thought there was a real fire. I found myself in shorts, freezing, still choking on fire extinguisher crap in my throat, and yelling off people's names to determine if we'd left anyone in the building. Meanwhile, drunk heckling residents shouted, "There's no freakin' fire!" A winning feeling at 3am, let me tell ya.
The second was during the summer, camp season, when only three staff members were in the building. After having cleared most floors, I did a nice sprinting number down to the front desk. As I rounded the desk, to go behind it, my socks slid and my feet went out from under me. We'll leave it at that.
College drinking is a pariah of all dry-campus residence halls. Residents will find a way to bring it in, just give them time. The RA's job is to catch them in the act.
One night, I was playing sober driver for some 21 year old RA's who'd gone out to a local bar. We arrived back in the hall at a reasonable hour, using the back door. As we did, we caught some kids carrying in an 18 pack of Keystone. My drunk RA buddy calmly confronted the situation, explaining, "What we've got here is a sticky situation." So true, and so representative of many alcohol write-ups...
Some alcohol confrontations were stickier than others. Sometimes residents would freely admit it and willingly pour it out, other times they wouldn't even let you into the room.
My good friend, and staff member, GP, reminded me of a "sticky situation" example. You see, we were on duty one night when we were told that there "were a lot of people" in a room at 8pm. We went to check it out, and it was evident something was going down. We knocked and confronted. Lots of alcohol and NINETEEN PEOPLE were inside. This included a priceless individual (the room's owner) who persisted that his name was "Petey." Petey was a liar, but Petey's nickname stuck until he moved out.
Another alcohol story:
One of my defining moments as an RA came when a young man wouldn't let us into the room. He persisted enough that the police were called, a last resort at our university. Eventually, the kid resisted until he found himself in handcuffs, whimpering, "These don't feel good." To which, the officer responded, "Handcuffs aren't made for your enjoyment, son!" I'll never forget that night. The kid went to jail because he wouldn't cooperate.
I was on two very DIFFERENT staffs, both consisting of 16 people. I can honestly say some of my closest college friends have resulted from Wells staff, but there's also been a fair share of staff drama.
My first year, the "A-Team" was a group of us who spent time late at night doing crazy things (food runs, playing in the mud, searching for the Spooklight). Then our staff got in trouble for having "cliques" on staff. The "A-Team" morphed into the 4th Floor Whore Gang, and the adventures did not cease. Good times~
My second year, our staff struggled because our hall director had some major problems. Once she was removed, we healed, grew together, and had a kickass staff retreat at Big Cedar Lodge, courtesy of Grandpa Gary and Res Life.
The fondest staff memory ever stems from one night. The Un-Official End of the Year Staff Party at Elizabeth's Summer Home. By the end of the evening, I'd kissed a staff member, experienced the art of body shots, dropped a mattress on a staff member's head to the point where we thought she had a concussion, and managed to watch as a fellow staff member broke my fire safety card holder trying to write down the evening's "memorable events." You can't beat memories like those!!
I think most RAs will tell you that they do their job for the good kids. I too have enjoyed some good kids on my floor, some of whom never ceased to amaze me as they grew and became awesome women.
My first year, I killed a resident's fish. She and her roommate gave me shit about it for a REALLY long time, but the two of them also became two of my favorites.
Other favorites included a pair that followed my from 4WM my 1st year as an RA to 5WW my 2nd year. These ladies were amazing, and they brought great spirit to my 5WW floor.
Although, I need to rave about 5WW in general. These ladies were awesome. They truly built their own community. Some had a Boondock Saints posse, some went out together (coming back and telling me funny stories), some did community service, and some were very active in res life stuff--which was cool. My favorite, though, came the last week of school, during finals week, when we instituted an important new tradition: the 5WW 9pm DANCE PARTY IN THE HALLWAY! Good times, good times.
COMING SOON!!!