My name is Paul Brown and I currently serve as the Director of Curriculum, Training, and Research at the residential education software company, Roompact. During my time in college, I served as a Resident Assistant and as an RHA president (in addition to a number of different student leader roles on campus). After graduation from college I went on to get a Masters degree in College Student Development and worked in residence life and academic advising for a number of years before making the switch to working for a private company that focuses on software development for residence life.
I took away a number of different competencies and skills from my time as an RA that helped me get to where I am today. Being an RA taught me to be more confident in situations, particularly crisis situations, where you need to make quick decisions while remaining calm. Being an RA also helped me with skills I’ve used as a supervisor and teammate—including listening, counseling, and collaboration. In many ways, the RA position and how it stretched me in so many ways helped lay a solid foundation fro me as a professional. For current RAs, I would suggest focusing on your duties and enhancing your skills. Reflect on your work. How are you doing? How can you improve? Are there best practices you can follow? Engaging in these skills early on will enhance your employability later.
I took away a number of different competencies and skills from my time as an RA that helped me get to where I am today. Being an RA taught me to be more confident in situations, particularly crisis situations, where you need to make quick decisions while remaining calm. Being an RA also helped me with skills I’ve used as a supervisor and teammate—including listening, counseling, and collaboration. In many ways, the RA position and how it stretched me in so many ways helped lay a solid foundation fro me as a professional. For current RAs, I would suggest focusing on your duties and enhancing your skills. Reflect on your work. How are you doing? How can you improve? Are there best practices you can follow? Engaging in these skills early on will enhance your employability later.
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