Next Time, They Need to Have Small Print

There are a good number of things they don't tell you when you accept a midyear RA entry position.

The first thing they don't tell you is that you're considered a new hire, no matter how many years of experience you have. This wouldn't be so painful (never mind my PRIDE) were it not for the fact that new hires get paid less and work more. I managed to talk my way back into my hundred bucks, but the extra six hours of training were awful. So was having to do the Behind Closed Doors roleplay again, though I did significantly better on this one (and got Patty to say she was good in bed, heehee). Stupid RA training. Stupid new hires.

What they also don't tell you is how much harder it is to come into a dorm that's not yours. Inevitably, no matter how many people you introduce yourself to, there is going to be at least a week in which you know no one in the building. There are over 60 people in Epworth, and the only one I could have a conversation with is the other RA, Fred. Don't get me wrong, I really like Fred. I don't so much like the fraction that he represents. I'm starting to recognize names and faces, but my only resident I feel comfortable with is my next-door neighbor (convenient, that).

All of this just means that I'm going to have to work that much harder at meeting everyone. But, as the Oracular Snail reminds us, "[I] still hate people", and having to meet them is pretty much my least favorite activity. Oh, woe is me! If only there were some way to KNOW them already, and then I could just maintain the relationships! For I am blessed with halfway decent powers of maintenance, believe it or not.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with getting out of bed, and by way of putting my feet on the floor I have created a personal bulletin board which is much more badass and artistic than the one I had last year. It features a Bills logo WHICH I DREW. If this is not effort, I don't know what is.

The third thing they need to include in the small print is that you will be reapplying for your job three days after you start it. The application, by the way, will ask you to refer to your experiences this year. The best answer to "please describe the last time you worked as a team" is probably not "well we went to O'Connell's this one time the night before a midterm at 2am to watch a basketball game, which is played by a team, and as a team we demolished untold buckets of beer". Nor is it "on election night all we psycho liberals gathered and cheered on our candidate as a team and managed to not ransack the entire city at 6am as a team". "You would not BELIEVE how many of us it took to get my one friend home that night!", etc.

By way of cheering myself, here is a very cute picture of Issa, me, Kori, and Jess at the DIM final banquet. Are we not adorable?