I dare you to pull an all-nighter. Oh, wait. That’s part of your job description.
By MIRANDA HUANG
When I first arrived on campus, one of the staple questions people asked during Welcome Week was something always along the lines of: “Where are you living?”
They said it with the same insinuation as “What is your major?” and “Where are you from?” It carried the same weight as a name.
Where you live your freshman year supposedly says it all: how you’ll survive the following months in tight living arrangements, how you’ll fare with the laundry frenzy, whether you are on scholarship or paying full tuition and even whether or not you’ll enjoy the party scene.
But where you live your freshman year is not merely an opportunity for small talk, it becomes a facet of your personality.
Your neighbors become the people you go out with. Your roommates observe the trash you forget to throw away, and your bathroom shower experiences become trauma stories to share over casual dinners at the dining hall.
Present throughout this transformative period, resident assistants play an indisputable part in mediating the freshman lifestyle.
RAs are undergraduate or graduate students who live in a residential community, oversee administrative tasks, build community with students and act as a resource for their residents. They also help students pursue their academic and career goals and ensure residents are abiding by the University’s housing policies.
Their jobs do not end there, though. Beyond being mentors and supervisors, RAs are trained to assist in crises and emergencies and are expected to act as mediators when residents have disagreements with their roommates, suitemates or neighbors.
To top it off, RAs are students with their own workload to manage. I was not only curious to hear about how RAs shape the freshman housing experience but also
eager to learn about how their duties fold into their lives as students.
24-hour shifts and a teetering work-life balance
As I set out to learn more about freshman housing, beyond its use as an informal icebreaker, my endeavor quickly morphed into a spotlight on a unique boundary — juggling being both a student and a mentor.
Resident assistants are learning to be adults alongside their residents but still have to set boundaries when policies are violated.
“It’s a very interesting dynamic because you take care of [residents], and you do have an authoritative position over them, but at the same time you’re living with them. You get to see their ups and downs. Maybe they get to see yours,” said Daniela Rocha Acosta, an RA for the First-Generation Plus floor in Birnkrant Residential College and a junior majoring in law, history, and culture. “When they’re waking up in the morning, brushing their teeth, I’m doing the same thing.”
As a 19-year-old student, Amy Torres, an RA at New North Residential College, also observed this strange dynamic — the tension between being a guide and a friend to her residents.
“I’m the same age as a lot of freshmen. If they were older for their year, and finding that balance of being a leader to them and being their friend … is such a big thing,” said Torres, a sophomore majoring in journalism.
On top of being a source of support for their residents, RAs are full-time students. So when should one put one role over the other? How do RAs balance prioritizing their education and helping their residents?
“I have gained a lot of patience, but in a way, it’s more so with myself. It was also learning how to set my boundaries more, because I love chatting with my residents, but then sometimes I look at the time, and I’m like … ‘I have homework due at midnight, and it’s 11 o’clock,’” said Susan Nyirenda, a senior majoring in computational linguistics and an RA at McCarthy Honors Residential College.
Ada Sanchez, an RA at Cardinal Gardens, said she attempts to organize and anticipate her student responsibilities to ease the weight of being an RA when quick responses are needed. For her, it is less about catering to one side of the workload and more about finding successful management tactics — learning to give and ease back where needed.
“Every day looks a little different. So I think making sure that I’m keeping up with my schoolwork, sort of doing that first, so that just in case something does come up, I have time for it,” said Sanchez, a master’s student majoring in educational counseling.
Nyirenda shared a similar sentiment, mentioning not only an added responsibility but also a need to understand residents on a deeper level.
“We need to have really good time management, organization skills and then also planning events,” Nyirenda said. “Maybe that’s what makes my life a bit different, making sure that you really get to know your residents and you’re doing stuff that they would want to come to and catering to them.”
Carly Garner, an RA at New North, tried blending classwork with socialization time with her residents, using the lounges in the building to both study for organic chemistry and help her residents navigate classwork. Given how many residents were beginning to embark on their STEM, pre-health requirements, she found a perfect opportunity.
“I feel like I created a little community of STEM majors in New North when I got them all together. … I felt it was nice, since I’d already taken those classes, to be able to sit down and help them study,” said Garner, a junior majoring in computational neuroscience.
What about Living Learning Community RAs?
For RAs at Living Learning Communities, there is an added sense of duty to connect with their residents, making it harder to prioritize one obligation over another. These first- and second-year communities focus on the intersectionality of identities and include the Latinx floor in Pardee Tower, the First Generation floor in Birnkrant and more.
Although there are no designated schedule differences between Living Learning Community RAs and regular RAs, Living Learning Community RAs participate in additional events, such as lunches and retreats.
Rocha Acosta, a Living Learning RA, must not only fulfill the typical duties of RAs but also manage a bigger budget and attempt to increase engagement with her residents.
Regular RAs are responsible for completing an average of eight to 10 hours of meetings per week, along with an additional 10 to 12 hours depending on their responsibilities.
This does not include the lengthy Student Leadership Development week before the start of the semester or the emergency response shifts required throughout each month, where RAs must be on call for any urgent matter within the building. In return for this work, RAs receive free housing at the University as well as a set number of free dining hall meal swipes and dining dollars, but their positions are otherwise unpaid.
Even so, balancing the role and schoolwork can be manageable, Torres said.
“Honestly, I don’t think it’s a lot of time consumption because, if I’m on call, I just have to be in the building. I could still be doing work, especially during weekdays,” Torres said.
USC is renowned for its work hard, play hard lifestyle. Whether that means going out on Friday nights, finding comfort in the music or food scene around campus, or staying in and resting, students need a conduit of release after long days of classes.
In addition to the time commitment of their job, numerous RAs expressed their struggle to balance free time and work time, especially since they can be required to work holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving and spring break.
“In terms of loss, I would say a bit of my social life, especially because we are required to work two weekend shifts, which are 24 hours. So for me, I’m working [Homecoming weekend]. I’d say at times with your schedule, there’s events going on you might miss out on, which sucks,” Nyirenda said.
A particularly awkward straddling of boundaries comes with having to establish policies for quiet hours and drinking rules.
“I’m just someone who’s like, ‘We know what the policies are. Let’s stick to that. I don’t want to deal with stuff like paperwork and all that stuff. Neither do you,’” Nyirenda said.
Regardless of the circumstances, RAs have an obligation to keep. The intersection of being a student and RA can be confusing and challenging, but when it comes down to it, a distinct separation between the two lives becomes key.
Celene Agahi / Daily Trojan
Does location matter?
Each freshman housing option comes with its own preconceived notions and notorious brands — New North is a Greek Life breeding ground, McCarthy is on the quieter side and of course, Parkside, dark side, right? — but I was curious to hear from RAs.
As an RA at Birnkrant, Rocha Acosta said how the building is more restrictive than other spaces because it does not include a general lounge, which would allow students to gather and socialize. Additionally, Rocha Acosta spoke to how USC’s policy changes have negatively impacted her job.
“They modified their door dec’ policies to where you can have nothing on the door, not even whiteboards on the door anymore … I know a lot of people like to express themselves with decorations. It makes my role significantly harder,” Rocha Acosta said.
Referencing how the University’s planning impacts social life was not a singular instance. As a second-year RA who formerly lived in New North and currently lives in Marks Tower, Garner also said building layouts impacted her social life.
“In Marks [Tower] and Pardee [Tower] and also in Birnkrant, there’s an elevator. So there are days when you can come into the building and get in the elevator and not see a singular other person, whereas in New North, there’s the stairwells, so everybody has to use those stairwells to get anywhere,” Garner said.
When asked about which of her two experiences she preferred, Garner said she enjoyed being in New North more.
“In Pardee and Marks, since it is quieter … you really need to learn how to get them to come together in more social environments,” Garner said. “I’ve had to look back on training and think of new ways to get them to come to RA events. In New North, that would not have been a problem.”
Interestingly, Torres, who works as an RA in New North, finds that the stereotypes about New North’s social culture do not always ring true.
“I think it really differs [depending on] who your residents are. Comparing my experience to other RAs in New North, I’m really glad my residents are more chill. They are just aware of their space, and they know that they’re sharing it with others, specifically with the bathrooms,” Torres said.
Across campus at Parkside Arts & Humanities Residential College, Namratha Kasalanati, a junior majoring in economics/mathematics as well as composition, found she preferred the more secluded lifestyle found in that corner of campus.
“Parkside is a kind of quiet community. When I’m on emergency response, most of the time the only thing I deal with are lockouts,” Kasalanati said.
How significant location is to an RA comes down to whether their preference aligns with the Selection Committee’s placement criteria. While housing choice is considered, candidates are placed where the Committee believes they would work best. How one considers the arrangement that follows placement comes down to personal perception.
Celene Agahi / Daily Trojan
… But free housing and dining hall food? Count me in!
The USC Hospitality Residential Dining meal package that comes with the RA package is just one of many perks the student-mentors receive. Along with gaining leadership, organizational and time management skills, all of the RAs interviewed expressed a deeper sense of gratitude for their job.
Rocha Acosta even viewed being an LLC RA as “a moral obligation,” seeing her job as an opportunity to connect with first-generation students and build connections.
“I want to make sure I am doing the best I can because … the first year, more than anything, impacts a student for the rest of their three years that they’re here at USC,” Rocha Acosta said.
Being a freshman RA is not simply a job; it is also a test of patience and dedication. While it can be taxing, it builds room for something much more rewarding: the ability to act as an intermediary to success.
As burgeoning young adults, freshmen are just beginning to scope out the bounds of campus and its resources. RAs inevitably become witnesses to energy, change and growth.
There is no doubt that the question of freshman housing will continue to be used when awkward pauses sour the conversation. Yet, as a crucial determinant of the freshman experience, RAs are there to help navigate this strange intermediate space between dependent child and mature adult. They are there to answer questions, whether that be about classwork, personal dilemmas or life in general.
And while it may differ from case to case, one thing can be universalized about the freshman experience: we all have those silent champions rooting for us from just down the hall. They may be a friend, therapist, or disciplinary figure, but when all is said and done, RAs are still students, just like freshmen.
“It’s so cool to see these students’ goals, seeing them work towards their goals and just figuring out life. Because I remember when I was a freshman, and just being so excited, also so nervous,” Nyirenda said. “I feel like being an RA is just trying to be their biggest cheerleader.”
