6 months ago
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- John Waldron sat on a disheveled bed in a room in Payne Hall on the Virginia Tech campus looking worried and upset.
Then came a knock at the door. His resident adviser, Samantha Soussan, walked in and asked if she could sit down.
Would the conversation be confidential, Waldron wanted to know.
"Whatever you say to me is confidential," Soussan said. Unless, she added, you seem so upset as to be in danger.
"Three months ago I realized I was attracted to my same sex," Waldron said. "I met this guy.
"I'm scared about what my family's going to think. ... My dad doesn't like homosexuals," he continued. "I'm worried he'll kick me out or stop paying for college.
"What would you do?" he asked.
Soussan counseled Waldron to push thoughts of the worst-case scenario out of his mind for now, to seek counseling and to come to her if he needed help finding resources to ease his coming-out process.
A few minutes later during a recent training session, Soussan's performance was critiqued by Waldron -- an experienced RA and volunteer trainer -- three professional counselors and Soussan's fellow trainees. The verdict: overall, she did well handling a common issue among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender college students.
A junior public relations major, Soussan is one of 80 new resident advisers on campus. She and more than 200 other RAs will provide emotional support, rule enforcement and first-line crisis-intervention services to more than 9,000 on-campus students arriving this week.
The two-day "Behind Closed Doors" role-playing exercises are part of a larger training program all RAs attend annually, said Carl Krieger, assistant director for residence life.
The role-playing exercises require trainees to practice handling homesickness, test anxiety and lifestyle conflicts with roommates. But they are also designed to prepare RAs to deal with serious, even critical, issues, including substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts and eating disorders.
RAs are often the first responders for on-campus students who find themselves in crisis, said Ellie Sturgis, a retired Tech psychology professor now working as a counselor at the Cook Counseling Center.
Sturgis was one of several "roving" professional counselors participating in the weeklong training.
While off-campus students are referred to the center through a variety of sources, "Freshmen often will come through RAs," Sturgis said.
RAs are also trained to do mandatory reporting to agencies such as the Virginia Tech Police Department and the Office of Student Conduct, Krieger said.
It's a demanding job requiring undergraduate students to work nights and weekends. But it's also popular. Krieger said this year 400 students applied for 80 open RA slots.
RAs receive free housing, valued at several thousand dollars a year, and get a private dorm room. They also are paid a modest monthly salary, Krieger said.
In return, they enforce university rules and regulations. Each one attends to the welfare of up to 35 students. They are often on call and must balance their schoolwork with their numerous responsibilities.
RAs do administrative paperwork, file reports to supervisors and manage time and people. Consequently, it can be a great resume-builder.
"When you're a senior and you go to look for a job, I guarantee 70 (percent) to 80 percent of businesses are going to ask you about that," Krieger said of RA experience.
The selection process is extensive, including intensive interviews, Krieger said.
Officials look for leadership experience, strong interpersonal skills and a temperament suited to organization and serving others, Krieger said.
While many say they do the job for its financial incentives, junior engineering student Jeff Walls said he was inspired to help his fellow students.
"I had a lot of issues with my roommates," Walls said.
First, there was the slob who made dorm life miserable. Then there was the guy who secretly filmed Walls and posted those videos to YouTube.
"My RA didn't help me very much. I had to go find other RAs to do that," Walls said.
Eventually he got the help he needed, and the experience showed him the importance of being a good leader and a resource for his hallmates.
"We hope we're training them to all be stellar RAs, but that doesn't always happen," Krieger said.
Still, Walls found RAs who did help him, Krieger said.
And that's what officials strive to provide for the thousands of students living in Tech's 40-plus dorms and on-campus Greek houses.
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