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Residential Life

March 18, 2008

Rollins is a community of leaders. Students can express their leadership through sports, community involvement and campus organizations. One of my outlets is through the Office of Residential Life. Residential Life is responsible for all of the residence halls on campus, most of the programs that occur within the halls, and some of the programs that occur outside of them.

I began working with Residential Life my freshman year when I lived in McKean Hall. I was voted president of the McKean Hall Council in my first month at Rollins. I worked with the Residence Hall Association, a student organization that allows on-campus students to take ownership of their residence halls and obtain funds for events for their halls or improvements to their residence halls.

For the rest of the year I worked with the hall director and a group of fellow freshmen to put on a student barbeque and to put on an Easter egg hunt for the community children. While working to put on programs, I became friends with most of the RAs in the building and got to know about their responsibilities, such as walking rounds of the building when on duty and putting on programs for residents, as well as the benefits of a single room at a triple rate and a biweekly paycheck.

My sophomore year I was again living in McKean, but this time as an RA. I worked with a number of the RAs I had come to know the year before. We had a great hall director, and we all worked together well. It was an enriching experience for me because it taught me about being a role model not just the nights when I was on duty or even just when I was in the building. I learned that I was always a role model. I still see most of my past residents on campus and I hope that they still see me that way.

After spending a semester in Australia, I returned to Orlando in November and spent much of the rest of the semester working on campus and spending time with friends. While visiting friends at the Residential Life Office, I learned that one of the Community Assistants in Sutton Apartments was leaving after the end of the semester. I eagerly applied and got the job of third floor CA. I moved into my new apartment in January. I have my own room, bathroom, and walk-in closet. I also have a kitchen, dining room, living room and porch that I share with a roommate. Taking up the job in the middle of the year has made it difficult to meet some of my residents, but by encouraging them to come to my different programs I’m making progress.

When I signed up to work in Sutton, I wanted to get Sutton residents more involved with the rest of the campus and with the community. In my first month, all of the CAs collaborated with the Sutton Hall Council and a neighboring residence hall, Holt, to put on a successful barbeque. I also arranged for a bloodmobile from the Central Florida Blood Bank to come to Sutton and we got a fantastic turnout from Sutton residents. Residential Life has helped me to be involved on campus and to make the experience better for me and my friends.

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