From your perspective, describe the roles and responsibilities of a Resident

Assistant. Please highlight the skills that make you a well qualified
candidate.
A successful Resident Assistant has many roles to play. They need to be a
leader, a role model, friend and mentor to the students. I believe i would be a good
candidate because of my experience leading a group. I was a section leader in my
high school choir for three years, and it was my job to make sure the girls were
learning their music successfully. I was the person they would go to when they
were having difficulties, and I always did my best to help them. A Resident
Assistant is responsible for keeping their residents out of trouble as well. I am an
adamant rule follower, I never had any disciplinary trouble in high school, and do
not plan to in college. A good Resident Assistant is also responsible for keeping a
positive attitude in the hall, and I believe I could do just that. I have a friendly
demeanor and a happy disposition, and love to spread that happiness to the people
I am with. Finally, a Resident Assistant is responsible for helping their students in
any way they can. I am always eager to help, and plan to become very
knowledgeable about all of the services offered on campus.

What should students have the opportunity to gain/learn as a result of

living in the residence halls?
Living in a residence hall should be an enriching, fun experience for students.
I believe students should have the opportunity to gain a community of friends, and
learn as much about the culture and communities of their fellow residence hall
members. Communal residence halls are an interesting environment to live in,
because there are people from so many different walks of life living together, and I
think it is important for students to learn as much as they can about these different
walks of life. One night, about half of the people on my floor were just talking in the
hall and our conversation got on the topic of different slang terms we all used. One
boy from Connecticut uses the word bet to mean yes or cool, whereas Ive
never used the word bet in that context. We all exchanged these interesting
terms, and now our floor has a new, unique vocabulary. Simple things such as that
really drive a community together. Theres another boy on my floor who is an
international student from China. Zhaoyuan is an integral part of our community,
and we all had the opportunity to learn more about the Chinese culture through
him. We are also exposed to the language, and one student took Chinese in high
school, so Zhao gets an opportunity to speak in his native language, and the other
student is using skills he thought hed never use. The sharing of culture and
friendship is one of the most important things students gain from living in a
residence hall.

Describe a hurdle or difficulty you have overcome and what you learned
about yourself through that process.
A difficulty that I have encountered in my life is having to convince my family
and friends that music education was the right career for me. My family realized the
difficulty of a career in music. The possibility that I wouldnt be working, that I may
not have a job, that I might not make it at all. I think that was really scary for
them. They wanted me to live the best life that I could, and up until the day I left
for school they were saying, are you sure you dont want to be a doctor? I was
sure. Sometimes it felt as though they didnt believe in me, and I went through
several periods where I questioned myself. I wondered if I could do it, with so many
schools not having music programs, and not a lot of funding for the schools that do.
I seriously considered attending school for business, but then I realized no, I really
didnt want to spend my whole life in a cubicle. I wanted to make music, and to
inspire kids to want to make music. This journey taught me that as long as I have
confidence in myself, my familys opinion doesnt actually matter. Its all up to me.
They arent the ones leading my life, I am. I learned to look inside myself for
validation, and I got it. As soon as I realized that I didnt need the approval of my
friends and family to be happy, I thrived. Now Im here, studying music, and I
couldnt be happier.

Describe some ways you have worked to understand perspectives of

culturally diverse groups of people.

In my life, I have always worked to be accepting and understanding of

different cultures. I celebrate different holidays with my friends, as some of them
are Jewish, some are Muslim, and some are Christian. Learning about their religions
gives me insight into the people practicing them, and is a vital part of a good
friendship. From ninth grade to eleventh I had a pen pal from Venezuela, as part of
my Spanish class curriculum. Maria told me all about her country and her familys
traditions, and I learned a lot about the Venezuelan culture. I was also in a few
classes with an exchange student from Germany, and it was so interesting to hear
all of the things he didnt understand about America, and hearing how they do
things differently in Germany. Some of our really common phrases and words he
didnt understand until we explained them, but then he would laugh and tell us the
German version of that phrase. My junior year of high school I went to Hawaii, and
learned about the traditional Polynesian culture of the native Hawaiians. I learned
the significance of the tattoos we see, and the origin of Hawaiian instruments, and
not just the ukulele. Learning about different cultures is fascinating to me, and I
think it is a vital part of the human experience.

Based on the student population you are interested in working with (first
year, upper-division, special communities, etc.), please comment on what
you think you can contribute to this group of students and what you think
you can learn from these students.
I am mainly interested in working with freshmen, and I think I can contribute
a great deal to the community. I can contribute advice based on my own
experiences, help them through their first year blunders, any personal advice they
need. I will also contribute a friendly ear, whenever a student needs someone to
bounce ideas off of, or just someone to talk to. I will be a cheerleader, boosting
their spirits after the first round of exams all the way through finals week. I will
contribute my positive attitude and friendly face, and try to make the community
better. In return, I can learn a lot from them as well. I think being a resident
assistant will give me valuable experience I can use when teaching. I think the
students could also teach me something about perspective. They are going through
college for the first time, and everyone has a different take on the experience.
Maybe one of my students will have a perspective I have never seen before.
Learning about their backgrounds and how they got to where they are today will be
so fascinating, and in turn I will support them in wherever they want to go.

In what activities do you plan to participate during the upcoming academic

year? How do you plan to balance the RA position with your academic and

extracurricular activities? (These activities may include, but are not limited
to: membership/leadership in student clubs, organizations, sports teams;
internships; employment; physical therapy or medical technology
programs; etc.)
I plan to participate in a choir at UD, membership in the Harrington Theatre
Arts Company, Greek life, UD Opera Theatre, the PRoUD Puppy Raising Program,
and hope to hold a job in addition to being a Resident Assistant. I firmly believe
that I will be able to handle all of these responsibilities, because I have excellent
time management skills. In most of these activities I will be able to have my cell
phone with me, so I will be able to take any calls or texts from my residents. In the
times where I am unavailable, I will take care to make sure that my residents have
the phone number of the RA duty phone, UDPD, and will make sure they know
where the RA office is. I prefer to study in my room rather than anywhere else on
campus, so during any study time I will be available to my residents in my room. I
do have a very heavy class schedule as a music education major, but I do not think
this will hinder my ability to be a dutiful Resident Assistant. I will do everything in
my power to equip my residents with the tools they need to handle any situation if I
cannot be present.