Joshua Mangano (left) and fiancé Heather Van Cleave (right) are shown with their pumpkin in the photo provided by Milligan College.
One late night during fall semester, more than a dozen young men picked up senior and Resident Assistant Joshua Mangano and transported him to the creek at the front of the school. As they wrestled him into the water for his celebratory creeking, he looked around and realized that most of the individuals were his former residents who came back to support his engagement.
“I knew that those guys wanted to be there because they appreciated me and the times that I was there for them,” said Mangano.
The perks of being an RA go much further than just materialistic things like a free and single room, though both can be helpful. RAs get to meet people and foster relationships that last a lifetime.
“My older brother had a really close relationship with his RA, and seeing that experience, I thought it was awesome,” Mangano said. “That’s why I decided to apply at the end of my sophomore year.”
An RA is supposed to be present in their hall in such a way that students know they can come to him or her for mechanical things like a broken light, school issues or even life problems.
“You have an in to a lot of people’s lives, and they may look to you for guidance or help, but maybe they won’t which is okay too,” Mangano said. “I have four really close friends that started out as my residents, and it’s turned into something really special.”
Though the job can be beneficial to fostering some relationships, it can sometimes distance students from once close friends due to the responsibility they now carry.
“I haven’t experienced it, but some people feel like their friends distance themselves,” Mangano said. “We’re never hoping to catch someone, it’s just part of the job, and I respect the job enough for being a leader on the hall to do the part that isn’t always fun.”
Availability is one thing that every RA must make sure to have as one of the leaders in the building. Each student is required to come back from summer vacation a week early to go through training like CPR certification and a simulation called “Behind Closed Doors” where RAs learn how to handle situations in the halls that are not Milligan approved.
“Training week prepares us for the worst that could happen and helps the RAs and RDs get to know each other better,” junior Hannah Bell said. “We learn about things such as roommate problems, suicide and how to work as a group ourselves. It’s helpful information, but it may not click until later in the year.”
Each person in their respective building is assigned to a break where they have to stay on campus for the students who remain in the dorm. Along with one break, each buildings’ set of RAs are required to have one night a week where they are on duty, and they must patrol in groups of four on the weekends during open dorms.
The students also must conduct three or four room checks each semester, and they must help with 6 different programs.
“Res life tries to add to the campus experience, so each RA is required to help with 3 living programs like ‘how to make food in your dorm room’ or Webb county fair, and we have to complete 3 learning ones like a bible study or my2words,” Mangano said. “ They’re fun, but of course, sometimes people struggle to get them in.”
Male students who are first-year RAs are typically assigned to Webb Hall while female first years can put their preference of Sutton or Hart (though they may have to be placed elsewhere). After helping for a year, students can typically put in a request to move to a different building if they so desire.
Bell said, “To anyone thinking about being an RA, be one for the relationships and community that comes with it.”