<p>Does anyone know the perks that are associated with being a Penn State University Park Resident Assistant? I know that it is considered to be Resident Life Staff, but not much more than that and the community seems to be tight-lipped on the subject. Any advice/information would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>…bump…</p>
<p>That was an unnecessary bump.</p>
<p>If nobody can provide first-hand experience I’ll tell what I know, which isn’t much but is based on knowing two RAs pretty well. They get free housing and maybe (can’t remember) a free meal plan as well. The schedule seems to suck between duty and pointless meetings (team builder activities, anyone?) at multiple levels. They also have to plan a certain number of floor activities per time period.</p>
<p>Ancedotally, I think there is a difference between how girls and guys interact with RAs. My RA friend who is a girl seemed to have a number of residents who actually relied on her at times for support. As a guy, I know my freshman RA was nowhere to be found and we all sort of liked it that way on my floor. Also, some RAs take their jobs very seriously (way too seriously, to the point of writing people up for things which aren’t bothering anybody but are technically violations of policies) while some don’t.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in being an RA I think a decent thing to do would be in your first semester or two, find a time to talk with your RA and a couple of your friends’ RAs and say you’re interested and you want honest opinions on what it’s like. You should be able to get a good sampling of a few different people’s experiences this way.</p>
<p>Pros- you get your own room(which may not even be the case next year), and free housing and food.</p>
<p>Cons- 90% of the kids will hate you, you can get legally charged if something goes wrong and you don’t do anything about it, you have to be on duty some nights (weekends too) which means dealing with drunk *******s, you have to take classes to become an r.a. and go through an interview process.</p>