Perspective: Leaders in training

Almost 10 years ago in the Quadrangle, a resident adviser saved a freshman's life.

While getting over a bad case of the flu, the freshman had developed a complication that induced seizures. And at 7:00 the next morning, the RA received the knock on his door that every RA dreads -- one of his freshman was terribly ill, in the middle of a seizure.

"They were able to get him in a position on the floor so he did not swallow his tongue," says Woodland College House Dean Jane Rogers, who commands a staff of 14 RAs and 10 graduate associates. "They were able to get him to the hospital in time, which saved his life."

Though that RA is now long gone, Rogers says that his impact -- like the impact of many of Penn's RAs and GAs -- still resonates throughout campus.

"I have had RAs [and GAs] who saved people's lives," Roger says. "I do not think you can impact a person more than that."

•

RA positions generally average three to four candidates per opening. For GA positions, it is closer to one or two.

The college house system has about a 50 percent staff retention rate. Out of 199 total positions on any given year there are only approximately 100 openings.

Rogers says that for Woodland College House last year, there were well over 120 applicants, 60 of whom she interviewed.

Pamela Robinson, who oversees the RA and GA application process, says that, despite a rigorous training session that requires RAs and GAs to return to Penn in mid-August, she understands the numbers.

"I think the reason it is so tough to become an RA or GA is because a lot of people realize that this is a job that provides you with a work opportunity unlike any other," Robinson says. "The variety of work experience they have and the kind of people they meet as their coworkers prepares them for any type of job they might ever have, so we have a lot of interested people."

In fact, Rogers says that the RA and GA experience transcends the Penn environment, covering everything from parenting to graduate school admission.

And at a fairly pre-professional place like Penn, possible acceptance into Harvard Business School just might be enough to compel future CEOs to boost their resumes with some RA experience.

"I used to be on a law school admissions board for Syracuse," Rogers says. "One of the things I used to look for was if [the applicant] had been an RA [or GA] because I know that if they could handle that, law school would be a piece of cake for them."

In addition, Robinson says the advising staff receives free housing and meals. And even though the meals come from the less-than-glamorous dining halls, these freebies still help seduce applicants.

"I think that free room and board certainly does entice students, but ... there are a lot of jobs on this campus that pay more, require a lot less work and are less demanding than being an RA and GA," she says.

She says she thinks the primary reason that the RA and GA positions continue to thrive is because applicants truly want to influence the lives of fellow students.

Robinson claims that most applicants come to her saying that they do not want to make the same mistakes that their RA or GA made. Be it not going into hibernation during the Philly winter or not always locking the door for debaucherous escapades, these applicants want to do it better. They want to make a difference.

And make a difference they do.

"Penn is a large school, and an RA or GA can help minimize the impact of being in an institution where people have said they sometimes feel anonymous," Robinson says.

That is why Chien Chow says he became an RA -- he wanted to make a positive difference.

•

But being an RA or GA is not all life-saving and glory. First, there is an application process and a rather comprehensive one at that.

The journey begins in mid-December, when the RA/GA application becomes available online -- only rising juniors and seniors and graduate students need apply.

Robinson says that graduate students bring an added dimension to the advising system.

"Our reason for having GAs is because we know they have already gone through the undergrad experience, and we value their abilities to share that information -- applying for internships, going abroad, job opportunities, making career choices -- with students," she says. "We also think they bring a level of maturity that... RAs do not necessarily have."

To this end, Robinson says she estimates that GAs outnumber RAs by about 20.

Upon completion of the online application -- which requires prospective staff to give basic background information, explain extracurricular interests and list the college houses in which they are interested in working -- lucky students find themselves at the interview phase.

Robinson says that the interview elite probably are of the enthusiastic and inquisitive sort -- the type who would not mind venturing down to Chinatown with a dozen freshmen in tow in search of some good taro-root dumpling dim sum, or the type who know just enough about the sounds of Swahili to help their residents start up yet another language class.

Certain other factors, Robinson says, are all but guaranteed to pique a house dean's interest.

"Most of our applicants are student leaders, [people] who have been on the DP, who have worked with student government organizations, with fraternities and sororities," Robinson says. "They tend to be engaged in a fair amount of extracurriculars."

Rogers says that diversity -- collegiate, gender, ethnic, to name a few-- is also a goal.

Take Chow, a second-year graduate student. A two-time RA who is entering his second year as a GA, Chow's parents hail from Taichong and Taipei, and he brings aspects of his Taiwanese culture to the college house melting pot.

Chow says he thinks his interview process was fairly standard and remembers some mock scenarios to which his interviewer asked him to respond.

"I think one scenario had to do with underage drinking," Chow says, remembering how he refused to condone such libations.

Yet, despite the fierce competition, a redemptive spirit still pervades. The committee seems to understand that, yes, even Quakers make mistakes. Rogers has even hired students with less than stellar freshman-year track records.

When the interview process is finally over, a committee of both staff and students reviews all the applications while the applicants sit and wait to see if they receive a coveted offer.

Before making a decision, potential RAs and GAs have a period of time to mull over the offers, which can come from more than one house. But in the end, nearly everyone accepts.

•

Chow says he felt there was only one place for him. It just so happens, this place is also generally only for freshman.

It is the Quadrangle that Chow now calls home.

"I knew [the Quad] best," Chow says. "It is predominantly freshmen so I thought I could make a bigger difference."

In fact, Chow says his decision to stay in the Quad and work with freshmen led to one of the job's best aspects.

"One of the most rewarding parts was just being able to be part of a freshman's first experience at college and having a hand -- directly or indirectly -- in their maturing process," Chow says.

And maturing, he says, should not revolve solely around kegs and fraternity-sponsored "late nights."

"Sophomore year, my roommate and I decided to stick around in a predominantly freshman hall," Chow says. "We didn't want their only experience with upperclassmen to be with their RA or frat brothers at a party."

College senior Lucia Leone, who has been an RA in the majority upperclassmen Hamilton College House for the past two year, says she too appreciates the freshman dynamic.

"I have a lot of freshmen this year and have gotten pretty close with them," she says, adding that the best part of being an RA is "just being able to be there and feeling needed, and that they want to be my friend and hang out with me, even though I am their RA."

Because of the large number of upperclassmen in the high rises, College junior Marc Leon, who lived in Harrison College House last year but now lives off campus, says he thinks the RA situation differs slightly from that of the Quad or King's Court English House.

"My RA in the high rise never organized anything," Leon says. "At one point, the people on the floor decided to organize something because we did not want the [hall fund] money to go to waste."

However, Leon says he admits that the low level of involvement was not entirely his RA's fault.

"I was a sophomore and did not want to get involved," he says. "I am sure that had I gone to see my RA in the high rise, he would have helped me. I liked my RAs both years, but freshman year they took a greater responsibility in making sure everyone was integrated."

At the same time, Leon says that having a less-than-present RA or GA is not necessarily a bad thing -- especially on the weekend.

"If you want to throw parties or anything, it is better to have an uninvolved RA," he says.

And this hands-off approach is not limited to the high rises. College senior Jordan Turoff says that this type of discreetness was exactly what he liked about his freshman year RA in the Quad.

"My hall had a great relationship with our RA because she was pretty unobtrusive and basically was there to organize events the first few weeks," Turoff says. "She was there as a resource if we needed her, but at the same time, she did not meddle in our affairs."

But that is not to say that RAs and GAs do not stick around their turf, especially because their position requires that they spend a certain amount of time "on duty."

Chow estimates that in a given year, he probably spends two weeks of his time on duty, where he must stay within 10 minutes of the Quad, ready to handle any disaster from lost keys to lost sanity.

And regardless of location -- Quad, Hill College House, King's Court or the high rises -- Leone says that while the stereotype that freshmen catalyze a better hall dynamic may hold some truth, it still is exactly that -- a stereotype.

•

Chow set out to make a difference -- he wanted to make himself a hall fixture, as accessible as the bathroom -- but ended up creating a family.

His family consists of current residents and co-workers, as well as those past. One member of his family is College senior Mitchell Clayton.

Clayton, who is beginning her fourth straight year in the Morris Bodine room that she lived in as a freshman under Chow, says she stuck around for the oversized room and, more importantly, for the friends.

And, Clayton says, Chow greatly contributed to the friends aspect.

"I think that freshman and sophomore year, when Chien was my RA, he definitely encouraged us to hang out more and that got [us] in the mindset that it was good to be friendly to one another," she says. "From my freshman year hall, virtually all of us are still friends."

Good friends, even. Clayton, after all, was not the only one who stayed put in the Quad. She says that sophomore year, probably seven or eight of her friends unpacked their belongings in the same hall or the adjacent floors.

Graduations and new additions to the hall have changed things slightly, but Clayton says her little corner is still comprised of Bodine vets -- two of them are going on their fourth year, two of them starting their third.

Another member of the Chow family is Engineering and Wharton junior Brian Càceres.

Chow says that one of the most rewarding parts of his job was "having [his] residents go on to be University leaders" and that "about five of [his] freshman have actually become RAs themselves." Now an RA in the Quad, Cáceres is one such example.

"We had a pretty tight and united hall," Cáceres says. "We were pretty close with everyone and [Chow] really encouraged that."

But for Chow, fostering camaraderie and planning activities -- a fresh "juice night" complete with an authentic juicer, dinners at ethnic or upscale restaurants, a trip to the Big Apple to see David Letterman and the Late Show -- is all part of the job.

"Being an RA or GA is not just being an enforcer," Chow says. "It is being a resource to the students, it is being available, it is being a friend. If they have any questions or worries, they have someone older to turn to. They know that if something goes wrong at 3 in the morning, they can knock on my door."

Already, Cáceres' current RA aspirations seem to echo those of Chow, his pseudo-mentor.

"I want to be someone to talk to, someone who [the residents] can trust and who has been through everything before and can provide good advice," Cáceres says. "I plan to go to ethnic restaurants around Philly, maybe go ice skating."

•

Cáceres says he is here, in part, because of Chow's influence in his life. In fact, Cáceres says he is starting off this year with Chow as a model in the back of his mind.

"Part of the reason I became an RA was because Chien just really enjoyed the job and was a positive influence on all of us," Cáceres says, "and I wanted to be that type of influence on other freshmen."

And now, as an RA himself, Cáceres hopes to return the favor — be it by saving a life, providing some much needed wings and pizza on any given night or just being a friend.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.