The call time that Tuesday morning was 6:45am. I finished my work that evening at 9:45pm. The long days of training were filled with lessons covering a wide array of topics, ranging from sexual harassment to how to fill out an incident report. We learned how to recognize alcohol poisoning and how to work with victims of sexual assault. There were days devoted to us mapping out our own identities to share with others so we could understand each person's different background. I learned that Student Housing loves diversity and “identity sensitivity” (never say “you guys”, “lame”, or anything else that supports our society's marginalization of the “subordinate groups”). All the while, we spent our evenings working on door decorations, bulletin boards, posters, and other projects for the dorms.
Combined, all these tasks forced me to have several sixteen hour days in a row. By the end of training, I was exhausted. Completely spent. Even after a day of complete rest on Friday, I wasn't sure how I was feeling. I still kind of felt like I was off.
On Saturday, residents started moving in, and I was on for the 7-11am move-in shift. As odd as it may seem, this is what got me out of my funk. Helping residents with questions and solving problems was an incredibly refreshing reminder of why I took the RA job. It just felt good to be there for people as they were trying to adjust to a completely new environment.
As I think back to my experience of moving in a year ago, I can't help but wonder if any of my residents are going through the same thing I was. Is anyone feeling alone? Does anyone feel attacked for their beliefs? I'm sure the answer is yes, but who could it be...