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| RDs arrive diverse, share common
goals |
Hugh
Kellenberger
CRSA / Housing Beat |
While the resident
directors of each of Appalachian State University’s 18 residence
halls share the fact that they are all graduate students, the similarities
often end there.
Take the cases of Erin A. Reich, Leah K. Mullins and Ben A. Bonnet,
the RDs of White, Belk and Cone Residence Halls respectively.
Reich, a graduate student in counseling from Roanoke, Va., said
she chose to be a RD because she loved her housing experience as
an undergraduate.
In her second year as RD, Reich took a semester off after graduating
and moved into an apartment, but said she felt it was not the same
as living on campus.
“[The students] are so excited, it’s contagious,”
Reich said. “There are so many people with diverse backgrounds.
“I love my staff; I love the other RDs. The [Department of
Housing and Residence Life] supports me in my goals with counseling.”
Mullins, a graduate student in higher education and administration
from Middleburg, Va., is in her first year as a RD. Her living situation
is special in that she is living in the building’s apartment
with her husband, Greg.
“We’ve been married for four months, but dated for four
years,” Leah Mullins said. “It’s his first time living
in a residence hall, so it’s all new to him.”
Greg Mullins is a teacher and assistant football coach at West Caldwell
High School, so that takes time away from the marriage. On average,
the two spend about three-and-a-half hours with each other daily,
Leah Mullins said.
“Greg has been very supportive. We’re best friends,”
Leah Mullins said. “It’s hard on him to be the only guy
in an all-girl hall, but he has friends at work.”
“Living on campus is one of the best things in the world. We
think it’s a lot of fun,” Mullins said.
The Belk Hall Resident Student Association traditionally holds a
Thanksgiving Dinner each year. Greg will be cooking the turkeys
this year.
“The students think it’s great that I am married,”
Mullins said.
Bonnet, a graduate student in educational medium from Syracuse,
N.Y., was a resident assistant for three years at Fredonia State
University in New York, where he did his undergraduate work. He
was also a member of the fraternity Sigma Pi Epsilon. Last year,
Bonnet was the RD of Frank Hall.
The experience of being a Greek during his undergraduate years has
helped him in being the RD of Cone Hall, which is composed almost
entirely of Greek students, Bonnet said.
“This is a good way to get a lot of leadership experience and
pay for college,” Bonnet said.
“You get the jokes about being the old guy. but there’s
a lot of life in a residence hall that can’t be duplicated.
[It] keeps you feeling young,” Bonnet said.
Reich, Mullins and Bonnet all said that it takes many organizational
skills to juggle the responsibilities of studying with those of
being a resident director.
“We are technically available to students 24-7 for whatever
they need,” Mullins said.
“This job has a lot of the 9-5 responsibilities, but the hours
are definitely not 9-5,” Bonnet said.
“You have to balance a lot out, set boundaries,” Reich
said.“People knock on the door at midnight to talk; you have
to tell students if it’s not life-threatening, can it wait
until morning.”
Bonnet breaks the day down into two parts. He devotes time during
the day to his job as RD, while working on his classes at night.
“Of course, the RD stuff runs over into the night,” Bonnet
said. “If something can be pushed back, put it on the next
day’s [schedule].”
Each of the RDs has to deal with different problems as it relates
to the students.
“Students do not allow problems to be seen until late October,
but depression and alcoholism are big issues [typically],”
Reich said. |
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