A difficult dual role

Becoming a Resident Advisor (RA) at Tufts is a position that has many benefits, but it also comes with much responsibility. RAs are asked to maintain order among stressed out, overworked 18 to 21 year-olds who are in the process of adapting to college life.

Maintaining this authority can be difficult, especially when RAs are the same age as or younger than residents whom they are supposed to advise. That difficulty can become even more pronounced when friendships with residents enter the picture: since RAs are meant to serve as disciplinarians as well as confidants, RA-resident friendships can often blur the lines between the two roles and hinder the necessary power an RA must have over a resident.

"It's hard to maintain a professional relationship with people you live with," said junior Giulia Lang, a Hodgdon RA with residents who are seniors. "It is difficult not to become friends with neighbors [like any other resident]."

"Sometimes you are tempted to cross the line where you converse and act in a manner that is completely friendship oriented," Lang said. "However, the RA must step back and remember that they are there as an RA and a friend." Lang added that she has maintained the amount of distance necessary to be professional.

RAs like Lang who are younger than their residents are put in a particularly difficult situation. They are encouraged throughout RA training to get to know their residents well. Doing this not only makes their job more pleasurable, but is a good way to get residents involved in dorm activities. Having personal relationships with one's residents also has its drawbacks, however. If an RA is friends with his or her residents, it may be hard for him or her to discipline those residents, enforce the rules, or even hold a meeting to discuss behavioral problems.

"I think it is possible [for RAs to both enforce the rules and be friends with their residents], but very difficult depending on both parties," sophomore Kristen Shinkawa said. "It's really hard because the RA has a responsibility that doesn't usually go over well with the students. It usually makes the kids mad if they get in trouble. Since [RAs] need to take on an adult role, it's difficult to create a friendship."

Shinkawa cited a recent example of the problematic dynamic between RAs who are friends with their residents. "My friends' RA drinks with the kids in their room on the weekend," Shinkawa said. "When the RA saw them the next day in the hall with a beer in their hands, he wrote them up."

Sophomore Daniel Sauerstrom, an RA in Lewis, has had no problems with his residents because of age. "I have four seniors, two juniors, and a number of sophomores on my hall," Sauerstrom said. "But there has not been an incident where I have felt that my age has hurt my ability to be an RA."

Sophomore RAs are not trained to deal specifically with age-related problems. "We are told that it is important to maintain an RA-student relationship, but no; there is no specific age-related training for RAs," Sauerstrom. "It is difficult to maintain the distance expected of you."

Making the RA-friend dynamic work is also difficult from the resident point of view. "Oh yeah, it's difficult for students, because you are friends with [RAs] and respect them, so you never want to put them in a bad position," sophomore Chris Lintz said. "But for the most part is all works out, just as long as you aren't irrational or stupid."

According to Sauerstrom, in some ways his younger age can serve as an advantage when dealing with freshman and other sophomores. "They know that I've just been through this," Sauerstrom said. "It makes our interactions closer."

Senior Andrew Hara, who was an RA in Tilton his sophomore year and is now an RA in Hill, claims that age is irrelevant when it comes to the ability to be a good RA. In both experiences, Hara felt that he was able to fulfill his responsibilities as an RA.

"I know that certain students might have a problem accepting younger students as an authority,"Hara said. "But your age or your year doesn't matter much, being a resource -- which is your job as an RA, to be a resource -- isn't contingent on being older than your residents. When you are a sophomore, you still have experience at Tufts."

Many Tufts students share Hara's opinion. "I wouldn't have a problem [respecting the authority of a younger RA] as long as they were intelligent and responsible," Lintz said.

Sophomore Samantha Kumar agreed. "It is more important how they carry themselves [than how old they are]," Kumar said of younger RAs.

"I think in college age isn't too much of a factor," Shinkawa said.

Patrice Taddonio contributed to this report.