This week has been hell.
Absolute hell.
Everything from the constant meetings I’ve been having back to back, to the all nighters I’ve pulled in order to study, to trying to maintain order in the building in the absence of other members of the staff, I’m fit to be tired.
Today, when going to my class, I was exhausted.
The lack of sleep is taking its toll.
Before I made it out the building, one of my residents stopped me. This particular resident has been struggling in his classes. He started off the semester partying a lot and realized a little bit late that partying every weekend is not the life of a successful college student.
So every other day before now, I’ve stopped him and asked him how he’s doing in his classes and if he’s studied. One night, I passed by his room and saw him studying hard—-I had never seen him do that before.
So when he stopped me, I thought he might have been asking me how to withdraw from his class.
“Jody!”
“Yeah?”
“I got an A in my Alegbra exam!”
…I seriously almost shed a tear. And I don’t cry.
I was touched by the incident for a number of reasons.
Number one, the fact he felt comfortable enough to share his situation with me and to frequently update me about his status in his classes.
Number two, the fact he was now doing well in a class that, just sometime before, he wasn’t.
And three, the fact he was PROUD to show me his grade. It reminded me of the times I was a kid and I’d come home proud of my work and tell my mom about how well I had done.
It MEANT something to him to be able to tell me he was doing well.
And that MEANT something to me.
Even with the constant bull you deal with on a daily basis with being a RA.
The meetings. The programs. The conflicts.
It’s moments like those that remind me why I became a Resident Advisor in the first place.
I feel like a proud pappy.
