The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - 64

David M. Rosch • Joshua D. Lawrie

identified many factors within the influence of university administrators that contributed to the development of their skills and values as undergraduate students, such as how hall governments are organizationally structured, the financial and human resources that are provided to them, and how administrative advisors are trained and supervised. The main themes that emerged from their comments were the provision of authentic, challenging experiences for hall government participants; the ability to become involved in regional and national organizations associated with residence hall governance; and the existence of competent professional advising for the organization.

In almost every interview, participants mentioned that one of the most significant factors aiding their development was the challenges they received as a hall government member or leader. . . . Many participants stated that if they were simply doing what they already knew how to do, they would not have learned from their experiences .

Challenging experiences. In almost every interview, participants mentioned that one of the most significant factors aiding their development was the challenges they received as a hall government member or leader. When asked what part of her experience helped her “learn the most,” one participant, a very recent graduate, stated,
Working on particular projects very intensely. When you only interact with people in a casual manner, I think that sometimes things don’t develop as much——you don’t address some of the underlying issues [within the group] because you don’t have to. But when you’re stressed and working hard, it all comes out. Many participants stated that if they were simply doing what they already knew how to do, they would not have learned from their experiences. Implied in their comments was that significant aspects of their learning came only through the challenge of playing roles they were not totally comfortable playing. For some participants, moreover, it was not necessarily the success of an event that was the memorable
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learning experience, but the process of coordinating its creation that left the lasting educational impact. A participant who had worked for two years to host a national conference stated, “It wasn’t even the conference itself that was so exciting, but everything leading up to it that made the event so exciting—all the work, meetings, and everything that went with it.” Moreover, helping hall governments set lofty goals and take on challenging experiences forced participants to learn teamwork skills by recognizing that they could accomplish all of their goals only through working interdependently. Five of the six participants recounted situations that forced them to learn the skills and leadership capacities of effective teamwork. These participants were students who came to college with leadership experience from high school and had an expectation of achieving similar success in college, yet without possess-

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2

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