Being a resident assistant at any Temple residence hall does not only look good on a résumé, but it can also lead a student to establishing new outlooks and goals in life.
The RA position is offered for full-time Temple students who are looking for leadership experience within the learning centered communities.
Senior advertising major Bilal Badruddin, an RA at 1300 residence hall, said he helps residents transition from high school to college living.
As an RA, Badruddin must hold programs to “educate residents and make them feel included on campus.”
After having a close relationship with his RA freshman year, Badruddin thought he would try it out. Badruddin has been an RA for three years now, beginning as a sophomore at White Hall residence hall. During his junior year, Badruddin worked as an RA at Johnson residence hall, the dorm he stayed in as a freshman.
Badruddin will graduate this May but now plans to go to graduate school for either higher education or student affairs. He would like to become a resident director for a different institution while getting his degree.
“Even if I don’t become a resident director, I hope to work in student activities on a college campus,” Badruddin said.
Badruddin knows that once he becomes an RD, it will be easier for him to “move up the latter.”
Badruddin’s goal, stemmed from his RA experience, is to eventually hold a position like Theresa Powell, the vice president for student affairs, or President Ann Weaver Hart.
According to the “Resident Assistant Position Description for 2011-12,” RAs have the opportunity to work directly with students over an extended period, with the hopes of positively influencing underclassmen student growth. An RA’s duty is to create a positive, community-based environment for everyone within the residence halls.
RAs are representatives of the Office of University Housing and Residential Life, so they must abide to certain academic and performance requirements, making it sometimes a time consuming job depending on how large the staff is.
“Each hall was a different experience,” Badruddin said. He loved his staff in White Hall residence hall and said he was really “tight” with his residents at Johnson residence hall because of the communal-style building. “I still talk to my last year residents on the regular,” Badruddin said.
Now assisting at 1300 residence hall, Badruddin does not feel as much of a connection with his residents as he has had in the past, because of its suite-style rooms and his heavy senior year workload.
Although he feels 1300’s community is not as connected, Badruddin said, “I love the 1300 building.”
Being the social person that he is, Badruddin said, “Getting to know people is the highlight of the position.”
Badruddin said some more perks of being an RA is that he feels a “sense of authority” and maintains that feeling of importance in the residential community.
As an RA, Badruddin has free housing and an unlimited meal plan and also earns $300 in Diamond Dollars each semester. Badruddin considers this a “reasonable amount” compared to what some other institutions pay.
Besides being an RA, Badruddin is active in the Temple Bhangra organization, which is a form of dance from India and Pakistan. Since Badruddin was a freshman, he has performed in numerous Bhangra events on campus and in national competitions.
Badruddin is also currently active in trying two fraternities. He is chartering Alpha Phi Omega, a community service-based student organization, and Delta Epsilon Psi, an off-campus South Asian interest fraternity.
“I love being an advertising major,” Badruddin said, who currently maintains an internship with an advertising company, but he also loves “being involved on a college campus.”
Lauren Hertzler can be reached at lauren.hertzler@temple.edu.
Be the first to comment