An Extended Absence

Sorry to disappear for so long. After being sick, there was a crazy weekend filled with antics (not my antics but those of mine and other residents) then there was Thanksgiving and all that comes with it. All and all a very interesting combination of things. So more or less updating the blog took a backseat. But now I catch at least a few moments of relaxation while I'm working a wedding reception. It's honestly my favorite. (NO) But I will get back to that event later. Instead, I will focus on what this blog is about, being an RA. So my crazy fun filled weekend (last weekend) was crazy and fun filled. Sort of. Friday night led to lots of fun with progressive dinner. A program that did a wonderful job at stressing me out more than I would like to admit. Mostly because of a great combination of I did way too much alone and didn't ask for help and people left me alone and didn't offer help. Lets just say cooking dinner for 50 people is no walk in the part. I did enjoy the food though. I'm a good cook. :) Or at lead I have enough skills to keep me on top for now. Especially in college where the majority of people can barely open soup. Much less cook it. Thankfully that night on duty was mostly calm. I wish the same could be said for Saturday night. On Saturday night there was a party. It was one of the biggest parties of the year and mishap was bound to occur...but let me tell you something...don't ever say "Oh, nothing happens in my dorm" Because if you say that, it will backfire. In my case it backfired horribly. Lets just say I am really glad I have a strong stomach. It actually came in handy in that incident. Lucky me. After calls to the duty phone and anti-disease spray and lots of sorb-it life was pretty much back to normal. But more or less it was enough to keep me on edge for the rest of the night. Sunday came with noisy excited residents obviously ready for the break. That weekend was enough to keep me exhausted for the following week. And then the holiday came and now I'm back at school working at my second job. I am baby sitting a reception. You know, making sure they don't destroy the building and such. As of now my stomach is growling and I need food. My 8am bowl of rice crispies are not holding out and the worst part is I can smell the food from the reception. I don't know what it is but I want it. I will have to contain myself because I can't have it and I'm going to dinner in 3 hours or so. Depending on when they leave. Also the elevator music they are playing is slightly annoying.

Being Sick

I apologize for abandoning my blog for so many days. I got sick which does not help with anything especially when finals are so close and I am apparently being watched like a fish. So I went to class with my tissue box and cold medicine. Got a few strange looks from my teachers. But I think I set a pretty good example. Even though getting up in the morning was utter terror (the nighttime cold medicine does NOT wear off by 7 a.m.) I loved the looks I got from all my professors. They looked at me like I was a little crazy but were fine after I assured them that I was not contagious. That made them happy I assume. The worst part about being sick is acting like you are okay when you see your residents. I didn't want them to think I was super sick so I tried to hide my sniffles. Mostly they saw right through it and kept asking me if I was okay. Which was a super sweet thing for all of them to do. In general I have the greatest residents ever...Most days anyway. 

What is the Fishbowl life?

When introduced to this concept I was a little confused. I didn't understand but apparently this means that where ever we RA's go, we are being watched. Not exactly in the 1984 big brother type of way but in a more of a big sister little sister type of way. I really like being an RA. Don't get me wrong, it's great. But sometimes it's a little hard to take. This year, my first as an RA, I feel disconnected from my friends. Like I'm suddenly the "bad guy". I wonder if that's how everyone sees us. is RA immediately associated with "the one who gets us in trouble"? Are we really the bad guys? So when we were told about this concept last week in our staff meeting I became curious and wanted to really know if we are watched as closely by our residents. Any college students out there...do you guys watch your RA's closely? 

In general I will try to update this blog as often as possible to give those who are interested a look into the life of an RA.