The secret life of a Residence Advisor

By Lyndi-Colleen Morgan

Beginning of September. Move-in day. The ground shakes and the doors shudder as they are forced open. Students shuffle in like a herd of cattle. It appears as if chaos might erupt at anytime, but a light shines in the distance and trumpets blare. The residence advisors ride in on white stallions to save the day.

Sounds fictitious, right? Well this is how residence advisors are shown in literature and film. They are also shown to have a number of habits such as drug and alcohol consumption and are perceived as “narcs” or the residence police by students.

But who are residence advisors really? What makes them tick? What are they responsible for?

According to Urban Dictionary residence advisers are peer leaders who supervise individuals living within a residence hall at colleges and universities.

“Where I worked we called them Dons, which is what they are more commonly referred to as in the residence here in Canada. RA is a much more common term in America,” said Max Toulch. “Before coming to work for Campus Living Centres… I’d never seen the term RA used in a Canadian residence.”

Toulch is the current Residence Life Coordinator for the St. Clair College Residence and is the second line of contact between students and management. He is responsible for supervising the RAs and ensuring there are social and academic activities within the residence community.

He remembers when he first considered being a Don at the University of Toronto, thinking how fun it would be. Before becoming an RA, he had experience with group living situations, but he said he couldn’t have fathomed the situations he would deal with.

“People come to you for everything,” said Toulch.

Toulch says he looks back on the memories he made as an RA. One he did recall included a young gentleman being locked out of his room in his undergarments and having to let him back in.

“Memories are important,” said Gary Burke, a second year RA at St. Clair College. “The memories of the programs and time spent with friends and students are my favourite.”

Burke said the fun he witnessed the RAs having in his first year at St. Clair made him want to try his hand at being a residence advisor. He said he liked doing it the first year so much he decided to come back for a second year.

One thing Burke has noticed during his time as an RA is the perceptions students have are not always the greatest.

“Sometimes I hear students refer to myself and the other RAs as residence cops, and they assume all we want to do is bust them, but that’s not the case,” said Burke.

Toulch and Burke agree there are some misconceptions about who RAs are, and what their relationships are with students.

But Burke said it best…

“RAs are just students who are observing and looking out for other students. We aren’t here to bust students or rat them out. We are here to be a resource for them to use in times of need and we are also here to have a little fun as well,” says Burke.