The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3 - 18

Mimi Benjamin * Laura Davis

ed five broad categories of RA-reported learning. Learning in the areas of interpersonal
skills, helping skills, problem solving, teamwork, and self-efficacy are explained below.

Interpersonal skills. The category of interpersonal skills includes communication skills
as well as the RAs' ability to navigate multiple
relationships and manage community/floor
dynamics. RAs spoke to the importance of
adapting communication and ways of building
connections within the community. This adaptation was noted by Kelly (all names are pseudonyms), who commented that "no person
communicates or receives communication the
same and I must be flexible and able to adapt
should I want to communicate effectively and
efficiently." Similarly, Charlie shared, "The
most significant experience that I had this year
was the interactions I had with my residents. It
really made me learn and understand different
types of people." Both realized the diversity of
individuals and communication styles of their
residents and the importance of adapting their
own communication to be effective.
This adaptation of approach was evident in
RAs' need to initiate contact with individuals,
which at times required enacting behaviors that
were not typical or comfortable. While interpersonal skills may suggest a need for extroversion,
Kai spoke about navigating this as an introvert:
I think that the biggest lesson I've learned that
will be applicable in the future is gaining the
ability to initiate contact and conversation
with people when I don't know them very
well. I am generally a fairly introverted
person but when you are expected to be more
sociable, I found myself forcing myself to fulfill
the role which at first was uncomfortable but
as I kept at it, got easier.

Beyond having different approaches to interaction, RAs spoke of the importance of genuine
interactions, being present, and suspending
judgment. Payton stated, "being non-judgmental and open when talking to [residents]
(and anyone) is critical," while Blake noted
the need to suspend judgment, saying, "I have
really learned a lot about the basics of human
bonding. I learned a lot about how unique each
person is and how you need to really learn
about a person before you judge them."
Others spoke about the importance of balancing multiple roles in the job. In particular,
they highlighted the authority/friend roles that
RAs navigate. On that topic, Skyler said,
I also learned how to connect with others in
a relatively short amount of time. I learned
the fine line there is between friend and
authority figure, and that even if I want to
gain everyone's approval, sometimes for their
own benefit, it's important for me to lay the
rules down.
Acknowledging the overlapping nature of
their various roles and recognizing the need to
play multiple roles was an important learning
experience.

Helping skills. RAs commented on various
aspects of helping skills, broadly defined
here as encompassing concepts of mentoring, advising, counseling, and other support
stemming from RAs' individual resident interactions. They referenced the importance
of making sure residents knew someone was
there for them and cared about them. Olivia
described what she learned after helping two
residents through emotionally difficult situations: "Much of what our job is [is] to help the
people who want help, and to be as present
and [accessible] as possible," while Lora noted,

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3

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