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Well-Being Experiences of Resident Assistants
These boundaries helped her process her own feelings and prepare to engage her residents
in difficult conversations about senseless mass murders in the U.S. It was clear
that painful national traumas do affect the residential campus experience and that RAs
were looked to as sources of support and comfort during these times when they were
also navigating their own diminished emotional well-being. Being direct in expressing
healthy boundaries with residents was a clear trend among the participants, a strategy
that allowed them to set definitive expectations that kept their individual well-being
in focus and limited the kinds of enduring negative effects that the position had the
potential to produce.
Empathetic supervisors. Supervisors, who were mostly hall directors and graduate
student assistants, sometimes established crucial connections with RAs with minoritized
identities, which allowed them to lean into the relationship during challenging
times. While not every RA in the study described having an empathetic direct supervisor,
those who did defined them as affirming champions who listened and validated.
As Sydney recalled, " My supervisor last year was definitely more concerned with my
well-being. When we would have our one-on-ones, it was definitely discussions about
how I'm doing. " Shawn regularly explored parts of his personal life that were affecting
his well-being during supervisory meetings:
I told [my supervisor] that my girlfriend started working full-time and we don't get [to] see
each other much. It's hard. . . . It was on my mind. It's nice that I get to tell [my supervisor]
the truth. . . . It's been pretty personal and [my supervisor] is always helpful. She gave me
advice on how to see my girlfriend more.
Like many others, Shawn benefited from talking about his well-being-beyond the RA
role-which helped form a positive relationship with his supervisor.
Renata noticed this concern for RA well-being as something embedded within
residence life structures at her institution, which made her feel comfortable discussing
her well-being with her supervisor; residence life administrators " always tell us in all
of our trainings, you're a person first, a student second, and RA third. " Brandon also
talked about how his supervisors cultivated an affirming environment that supported
him in managing his RA duties: " My manager and coordinator were my rocks these
last two quarters. They made me feel at home. . . . I've handled a lot of emotional problems
and . . . [my supervisor] just kinda works through them with me. " The supervisors'
empathetic approaches led to positive relationships that cultivated environmental
aspects of well-being for the RAs.
While not every RA in the study described having an empathetic
direct supervisor, those who did defined them as affirming champions
who listened and validated.
138 The Journal of College and University Student Housing

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