journal_vol49no3 - 139

Well-Being Experiences of Resident Assistants
Sydney, meanwhile, persisted in the role despite frequent supervisor criticisms that
chastised her and other RA women for not acting in stereotypical feminine ways:
[My supervisor] claims I didn't have a positive attitude because I'm not 100% perky at staff
meetings or events. That doesn't mean I'm not happy. I'm a little bit more chill. . . . [When
I have an issue in the role], he makes me feel as if it's my fault . . . because I ultimately
applied to the position . . . [And, he asked another woman on staff publicly when] she was
planning on marrying her current boyfriend. . . . She was really taken aback. . . . He just
gives me anxiety whenever I see him.
Breanna felt that she was expected to act like a maternal parent: " They expected me to
be almost like a mom because it was [first-year residents'] first time without parents. . . .
They expected me to have a lot more involvement in their lives than usual. "
Raced and gendered job performance expectations were clear among these RAs,
who felt the emotional drain from these unbalanced responsibilities. While not every
participant in the study had a negative experience with their supervisors, those few that
did ultimately resisted supervisors' biased expectations but communicated how these
expectations for performing their minoritized identities in stereotypical ways intruded
into the occupational contexts of being an RA.
Strategies for Rebalancing Well-Being
As RAs with minoritized identities encountered and dealt with the effects of their
well-being being disrupted, they also utilized several strategies to rebalance their
well-being. First, they enacted individualized strategies that focused on their own mindfulness
as well as their ability to set boundaries that allowed them to recharge. Second,
they received support from empathetic supervisors who affirmed their minoritized
identities and focused on their holistic well-being in the role.
Mindfulness and setting boundaries. Participants employed two strategies to recenter
their well-being while coping with the structural aspects of the position. The
occupational demands of being an RA mostly resulted in RAs experiencing mental and
emotional exhaustion that sometimes sapped their physical energy. As a result, mindfulness
techniques were often used to regain balance. Such techniques were necessary
because RAs in the study frequently engaged their campus communities beyond their
RA roles. Minoritized RAs were formidable students on campus, who led student organizations,
pursued double majors and minors, and took full course loads and honors
classes. Brandon explained his approach to balancing the various demands related to
being both an RA and an engaged student:
My main way of actually dealing with stress is finding small breaks to just relax and exist
at a slower pace than most. . . . You can easily take on everything that you want at once
as long as you give yourself the time to take care of yourself every week. I take two hours
every week to just sit and exist and think about all the things I'm excited for, all the things
that I'm scared for, and how to attack them all . . . I make sure I have the ability to take on
all of this at once and still have time to relax . . . I'm doing what I need to do to take care of
myself and the people around me.
136 The Journal of College and University Student Housing

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