[nabs-l] Becoming an RA

[Ashley Bramlett]

Sami,

Go ahead and apply. It depends on your school, but most schools have a RA 
during the weekends. You might have to stay some weekends, but not all of 
them since RAs probably rotate duties. As for study abroad, you could just 
do that another year. RA positions last a year usually so this frees you up 
to study abroad another time.

Good luck.
Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Sami Osborne via NABS-L
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2017 12:01 AM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: Sami Osborne
Subject: [nabs-l] Becoming an RA

Hi all,

I just got an email today telling us when applications are due
for the students to become an RA for next year.  I think it would
be very interesting to become one, because it would allow me to
have an on-campus job as well as giving me the opportunity to
meet/interact more with the other students as well as being able
to manage whatever problems they're having with living in the
dorms.  Plus, the advantage of being an RA at my school is that
you get to have your own room, which is good in my opinion,
because, (I posted about this a couple months ago,) my experience
living with two roommates has been somewhat of a disaster this
past year.  I'd just like to know if you guys have become/are
currently an RA on your college campus.  Is it possible to be one
as blind students? If so, how was/is your experience so far?

I also had a few concerns I wanted to address with you guys
before I apply for the position.  First of all, the director of
Residence Life knows that I'm totally blind.  In your opinion,
may that cause him to immediately reject my application simply
because he thinks I can't accomplish the job for whatever reason?
If my application is rejected, (either for that or any other
reason,) would I be able to discuss with him why it's been
rejected, since I have no control in his overall decision?
Second, I know that RA's have to address every kind of problem
that the students living in their unit are having.  Some of these
things are difficult or impossible to solve.  For example, when I
was walking back to my dorm from class one day, I talked to one
of my acquaintances, (who lives next door to me,) who was waiting
for our RA to come back because he had some kind of problem with
the shower in his unit.  I honestly have no idea how I, or even
most people, would be able to fix something like that, especially
since I have absolutely no experience with this kind of thing.
My RA actually would like to become a mechanical engineer, so I
guess he would have experience with that.
Third, are RA's allowed to go home/leave campus for an extended
period of time, like on weekends or studying abroad? The reason
I'm asking is because I go home on weekends, (which is an
advantage for me, since I live only fifteen minutes away from
campus).  One of the main reasons I have to go home is because I
have piano lessons every week at a music school that's an hour
away from my county, and I usually depend on my mother to drive
me there (I haven't  got any mobility training in using public
transit such as trains, and taking a cab there would be too
expensive, since it's an hour away).  I'm also planning to study
abroad during my junior year, and therefore, if I was an RA, they
would probably have to look for a replacement, unless RA's are
not allowed to study abroad for some reason.  Also, that being
said, is an RA position a temporary, one-yet-long position, or is
it a permanent one unless I resign/get fired?

I hope to hear from you guys soon.

Thanks very much and have a great night,

Sami

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