Happy Easter!

Holidays are always great motivation for RA's. Since Easter is tomorrow many RA's took advantage of using the holiday as a way to create a fun program for their residents. Many RA's across campus scheduled Easter themed programs that ranged from baking food to dying eggs. All of the programs were great ideas and had excellent turnouts. When holidays come around the programs in all of the buildings tend to be amazing and successful. There is something about them that helps bring the residents within the dorms closer together. Happy Easter!

Lets go to the Beach!

It's Easter break and several of the RA's got together and we decided that we were going to head to Myrtle Beach at the beginning of the break before we went home to our families. Hanging out with other RA's off of campus is a great way to create strong bonds amongst staff members and friends. We had an amazing trip! We spent a lot of time on the beach but we also took in some of the tourist attractions. They are hard to resist. We ended up spending a decent amount of time at Broadway at the Beach. There were so many different things to do and the restaurants were amazing! This is  must for anybody who is traveling to Myrtle Beach. All of the RA's on the trip truly enjoyed the time that we were able to spend with one another and memories were made that will not soon be forgotten.

Check out this link for more information on all of the fun that you can have on your trip to Myrtle Beach!! : http://www.broadwayatthebeach.com/

Lutz Night of Worship

Last night was the first annual Lutz Night of Worship. It was by far one of my favorite experiences as not only an RA but as a student as well. The evening consisted of music, the sharing of testimonies and gifts, communion and a small sermon. The night was amazing. Also, several people from the dorm came to the event and were asking for another one some time soon. Worshiping with a room filled with college guys was also a unique experience. It is programs like this one that remind me of how great it is to be an RA and that there are several ways in which you can engage your residents. This one can be marked as a success!

Astronomy Night

Several of the RA's who are members of the Honors Student Association held an Astronomy Night event on Thursday. It was a huge success! Tons of residents came out and had a great time. There was a bon fire, s'mores, awesome music provided by Dr. Olive and we even got to look through the telescopes. Everybody was able to come out and just relax under the stars. We also had the opportunity to share some cool information about the stars and some of the constellations that we had learned about in our Honors Astronomy class. Check out the link below for some information about the constellations and stars that we had the opportunity to view up close.

Enjoy!! http://www.topastronomer.com/ 

GRD Probs

Each year there are interviews help for new applicants for the RA positions. However, returning RA's do not have to go through another interview process. The same can not be said for the GRD's. As a GRD you must go through a rehire interview. Those also happen to be taking place right now! Best of luck to all of the GRD 's who are applying to be on staff again next year!

More RA's?!?

Well everyone, it seems like our department is always hiring new people. The interview process has started for summer RA's and for some people to fill the remaining slots that are needed for the next school year. Interviews are well underway and it seems that everyone is doing a great job. Those individuals that will be receiving the job will be notified in the near future. I'm excited to learn who all will be joining our staff next year!

International RA

This RA's life is about to get turned upside down! In less than 10 hours I will be boarding a plane to Guatemala. This will be my first time leaving the country let alone the east coast. I am beyond blessed to have this opportunity and I cannot wait to see what God has in store. This is a mission trip that I am going on through Gardner-Webb University. I am also very pleased to announce that my fellow RA Samantha Allen will also be going on this trip. Its time to be international!!

Spring Break

Spring Break is only a few short days away! Everybody is ready to leave and just relax for a few days. However, some people are looking to have a bit more fun on their break. With that in mind, this is a great time of the year for RA's to hand out some passive information or to make an Education Board about making smart life choices. This covers a very broad set of topics but serves as great way to get out some last minute safety reminders. RA's are supposed to be looking out for their residents and this is another way to express that.

Check out this site and keep yourself informed about how to stay safe on spring break:
http://www.safespringbreak.org/safety-tips/

The Fish

One thing that is very interesting about living on campus is the animals that you are allowed to have in your room. The only living pet that you can have in your door room on campus is a fish. That means that you can not have a frog or hermit crab living in a fish tank. Only a fish. Now I know that this is sort of a bummer, but there are some positives. Beta fish are very popular and they come in a variety of colors so you don't ever have to worry about having the same one as someone else. Some buildings even have competitions amongst their fish. You just kind of have to look at the positives. You can have any stuffed animal that you want!

Everybody Knows Everybody

As an RA one  of the things that can be most beneficial to you and something that will aid you in more ways than one is to know who your on campus resources are. If you know of staff members on campus that are heavily involved or are in charge of departments. Having that connection can help tremendously. Knowing the people in Student Activities, Community Engagement and so many other departments will allow you to have programs that will not only be interesting but effective. These people know how to get students to events and they are always willing to help. With that in mind, get out there! Find out who the people are on campus that can help you in a way that helps them.

Visit the link to see all of the awesome resources we have at GWU. Simply select one of the drop down options! http://gardner-webb.edu/

Running for a Cause

This morning two of our awesome RA's here at Gardner-Webb ran their first official 5K! The race was actually a fundraiser to raise awareness for eating disorders. Samantha Allen and Ellen Huneycutt made the decision to run this race without knowing that it was going to snow the morning of. However, despite the freezing cold temperature and the snow, the two still completed the race. They each displayed an enormous amount of endurance and dedication. I am pleased to call them my friends and I am than proud of the both of them! Way to go!!

Mixing It Up

A major part of being an RA is finding ways to relay information to your residents. However, this is something that can begin to get boring and repetitive. Because of this RA's have to search to find new and different ways to inform their residents. One approach that I am currently using is posting my information on my bulletins boards. My door decs to for this month are the characters from Pac man. In an effort to include useful information with my theme, my bulletin board is entitled "Make Good Choices." On the board there is an above average size Pac man that is eating the dots from the game that have nutritional facts on them that serve as guides for making smart choices in relation to food. This for me was a cool way to mix things up and to potentially inform my residents without them eve realizing that I am distributing information.