What Role Does Your RA Play?

Your parents—fortunately—won’t be with you while you live in your dorm. This doesn’t mean that they won’t be calling or emailing on the top of the hour every hour just to, you know, see how you’re doing. But while you’re dorming, there will be limited parental supervision. Sound like a relief? Perhaps. But don’t get too carried away.

While your college wants you to feel like an adult, it knows that students can get just a little crazy during that first year at school. Your school also wants you to succeed and to be safe while living in its residence halls. To ensure this, you can count on someone to be there to supervise your floor and to provide dorm-life guidance. No, it won’t be a teacher; it’ll be a fellow student: get ready to meet your RA.

Your RA, or resident adviser, is there to keep dorm life in check and to help you adjust to living in a brand-new environment. That’s a basic job description, however you’ll quickly find some students hold a different view. The “us versus them” mentality can quickly crop up, placing fun-loving students against the stern, fun-less RAs. How strict or not your RA is, though, more so reflects how much he or she cares about your well-being.

Your RA wants everyone on your floor to be, first and foremost, safe. No, your resident advisor probably won’t try prying into your Friday-night activity plans in attempt to join the party. Rather, he just wants to know what’s up so that he can know if any unsafe or otherwise negative situations might arise. No matter your chosen weekend activity, things can get carried away, and it’s your RA’s job to make sure you and your floormates are safe.

Safety comes first, but it’s also an RA’s duty to try to ensure you’re enjoying dorm life. Sure, dorm living can be a bit over-the-top as far as communal living; it’s a lot of students all jammed into one building! It takes some effort to make friends and get to know your floormates, yet it’s often the students who don’t try to socialize who end up with dorm-life blues. While they’ll be a bit corny at times, you can count on your RA coming up with a host of activities designed to help everyone get to know each other better. You might very well make lifelong friends with some of your dorm mates—or even with your RA!

As anyone who faces balancing having to enforce rules with being a friend, RAs have a tough job. You don’t have to become best friends with your RA, but as a student in a residence hall, you’ll be the one to decide whether your RA faces an easy or difficult task. Just know, you can have plenty of fun and fully enjoy dorm life while staying on your RA’s good side; and you definitely don’t want to get kicked out from your dorm! How, then, would you enjoy all that cool dorm stuff you bought?  

Learning how you learn during your first year of college

You’ll learn a lot during your first year of college. You’ll learn plenty of academic material and facts; you’ll learn your way around the myriad streets and buildings that make up your school; and you’ll even learn the best (or least worst) foods offered at the dining hall. But perhaps the most important thing you’ll learn your first year is how you learn best.

Entering college, all students will have some idea where their academic strengths and weaknesses lie. Perhaps you paid attention in high school and listened closely to your teachers’ lessons. Perhaps this effort was enough to earn you As. If you plan on using this same method in a big, lecture-style class in college, it might work out fine—but then again it might not. If you find that your lack of adequate notes was to blame for a low score on a first test, well, at least you’ve realized you’ll need to change your learning techniques. Now it wouldn’t take a neuroscience major to figure out that better notes will lead to better studying, but realizing how you can improve academically in your first year is critical.  

And speaking of hitting the books, you’ll only make the rest of your college career easier if you figure out what type of studier you are. There are night owls, last-minute crammers and those who study at a slow but steady pace. Some study just before bed, while others use that time to unwind and instead study-up before breakfast. Try studying at different times of the day. Have some coffee, or hold off on the coffee. Study with a friend. Study alone. Just find out what works best for you, and you’ll have your technique honed in for the rest of college. 

Students can always recall their favorite teachers from high school (and, in all fairness, their least favorite).  College professors and instructors will also prove to be a varied—and often eclectic—gang. But as tempting as it will be to sign up for a class with so-called "cool," "fun," or "wacky" professors, try and gauge them more by their teaching styles. Some students will learn better from their books, and if it's an instructor who assigns a lot of reading, that teacher could make a good fit. Some professors will get up there and just wing it through their daily lessons, promoting discussion and feedback over word-for-word lectures. You might find instructors like this more engaging—or you may find them more distracting. But keep your classes varied and you'll surely encounter teachers who teach differently. Focus on their teaching styles so you can find the right fit. Most schools have a period of time at the start of each semester where it’s easier to drop or switch a class. Once you know your preferred teaching style, if you think a teacher may do more harm than help to your learning, get out of there!  

With so many changes and new events taking place that first year, don't forgot to focus on developing yourself as a student, as a learner. As important as it is to pay attention in class, pay attention to your learning style, too. While college isn't easy, it can be made easier—and learning how you learn will do just that! 

n“Ice” Pickings – Moving into College during the Winter

 

While the majority of college bound students move into their dormitories during the Fall Semester, a few students trickle in during the Spring Semester. To make sure that your transition is effortless or at a minimum of requiring less effort, I have compiled a list of key points to remember.

1.       Dress Warmer – Where I am writing this from in NY, the weather is on average 20 or lower degrees Fahrenheit during January. Not only does that mean cold fingers, but black ice as well. The less you have to carry back and forth, the safer and easier move in day will be. This leads me to my next point.

 

2.       Don’t Over Pack - College rooms are often much smaller than students are accustomed to. This means less space to store your large wardrobe. You shouldn’t bring every piece of clothing with you. Before moving day, sort through your clothing and realize that maybe some 20% of your clothing you wear 80% of the time. That leaves 80% fluff. Don’t bring too much fluff or your room with slowly transform into a marshmallow of clutter.

 

3.       Pre-Pack in Boxes Beforehand – Slowly organizing your college supplies into boxes will eliminate the packing shock 1 or 2 days before you have to move. Secondly, boxes are durable, easy to carry and a surefire way to organize your supplies into relevant categories. (Bathroom, bedding, sport, clothing, electronics, etc.)

 

4.       Easy Transportation – Use the school carts provided by your school to make transporting all those boxes easier and safer. The trolleys will expedite moving in and out of the dorm room since these will fit in the elevator. Nothing is worse or more embarrassing than slipping on ice while carrying your fragile items, so be sure to utilize these available resources.

 

5.       First In, Last In – Fragile items should be the first things you carry in. They are often just a box or two and free up your hands. There is often some paperwork to complete, keys to receive and a hustle and bustle the first time you step into the dorm. When you arrive at the dorm, set these boxes in a corner so that they are protected and you can now preoccupy yourself with the loot still left in your vehicle. I also bring the valuables in last just as a precaution. Roommates will be filling in, doors will be left open and dozens if not hundreds of people will be moving about.

The Best Dorm-Based Christmas Presents:

We all have friends and family that can’t seem to earn their zzzz every night. A lack of sleep is a drain during the entire next day. I plan on getting my family some Memory Foam Pillows for this Christmas. These high quality sleeping products cradle your neck and head to offer support where it is needed.

Too many comforters don’t offer the adequate warmth needed for those freezing winters. If anyone including myself had the choice of being warm and cozy or shivering cold, I sure wouldn’t choose the cold.  There are many different Twin XL comforters offered from DormCo that suit this purpose. However, with my user bias, I am compelled to praise the warmth of the College Plush Comforter lineup. These are true twin XL and ultra-soft plush bedding necessities.

When you decide to apply stickers or tape to your walls, you risk the paint peeling of anytime you want to remodel. With Peel N Stick dorm décor, your walls are safe. Peel n’ stick firmly adheres to any wall/wood/ceiling/whiteboard and is easily removed. Because this unique type of décor doesn’t damage walls, you can reuse and reposition this décor whenever you please. I have decided to purchase The Americas for my sister and one of the many amazing Window Peel N Stick offerings for my grandmother.

Some dorm rooms just stink. Whether it’s the clothes, shoes or caused by a big ? that we’ll never understand, college students definitely need products to eliminate  these musky smells. The dorm room spray lineup offered includes some Exotic Scents like Cedar, Red Apple, Bamboo & Tiger Lily and even Hibiscus.