There are four residence halls that provide housing for students who choose to live on campus at Auburn University.
The Quad, Hill, Village and the most recent addition, South Donahue, are the dormitory options given to these students.
Students who are appointed to the Residence Life staff are hired for one academic year after being selected for their positions in the first half of spring semester.
According to the Office of Residence Life, Auburn looks for students who are outgoing and hard-working individuals that are committed to working effectively with diverse groups of people to join the residential assistant team.
"We have a week-long training session before people move in," said Katie Beck, second year residential assistant in Little Hall and junior in integrative biology. "We learn all of the policies and other really important things."
The residential assistants on Auburn's campus have several major responsibilities when it comes to offering and maintaining successful dorm life, according to Beck.
Not only do residential assistants make sure Auburn's students aren't violating the rules, such as burning candles and using toasters in their rooms, but also making sure that Auburn's dormitories remain a constant protected area, Beck said.
"The biggest responsibilities of an RA are to make sure that the building is safe at all times and to create an inclusive community in the building for the residents," Beck said.
Maintaining a safe environment for the residents living in on-campus housing isn't the only obligation that Auburn's residential assistants have.
According to Beck, upholding the responsibilities of her job while maintaining her coursework is a major responsibility.
"At first it's difficult to balance the responsibilities and the school workload," said Eva Mavrakos, residential assistant in South Donahue and sophomore in business. "After a few weeks, it becomes much easier to balance everything."
Along with learning how to balance the responsibilities of school and their on-campus jobs, according to Mavrakos and Beck, they both have made genuine friendships with some of the residents in their assigned dormitories.
"When I lived in the Hill my freshman year, I was really close with my RA," said Kate Breffeilf, junior in business. "We talked all the time."
Being a residential assistant at Auburn is a time consuming job, according to Mavrakos and Beck. However, they said there are several social rewards that come with the position.
"The most rewarding thing about being an RA is being a friend to my residents and knowing that they trust you and look up to you enough to talk to you about almost anything," Beck said. "I have had people come to me about very serious personal issues."
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