A big part of being a CA (community assistant) is getting students involved. On their own time they plan, budget, and provide programs for us to attend. However, a lot of us don’t attend the activities. Why? The Voice interviewed a few CA’s on campus and students to get an idea of what’s going on.
All CA’s interviewed, Kristen Morley, Kebnar Antalosky and Izzo, mention how they love their jobs and it is an amazing experience. They all agree that becoming a CA has benefited their creative skills as well as building and developing them as a person. All of these parts about being a CA are exciting.
However, a challenging part of their jobs are to get their residents involved and plan programs. Some programs are not as hard to plan but others can take up to three hours to plan.
Kristen Morley mentions one program in particular planned for Soltz Hall this year was practically a lost cause. Morley had a speaker from Professional U come to Soltz and talk to students for a few minutes about anything the students had questions about. Unfortunately, only about five students attended the program. This was a huge let down also because many students requested this person come and visit, yet those people didn’t attend. Kebnar Antalosky notes how he understands why students don’t come to the programs. He says it is understandable, yet it can only take a few minutes of your time to attend the programs and you never know how it can impact you. A program planned in the past weeks had students write down thank you cards to soldiers. Certain programs have impacted students to think differently.
There have been many programs that have been successful. CA Izzo, Antalosky, Morley all mention one program planned about two weeks ago where students come together or stay in their rooms and play Fortnite against each other. The reason it was successful was not only because it is a relevant game people are playing but also students were allowed to stay in their suites to join in. Another program that always seems to be popular is s’mores outside Soltz. It has been so successful and supplies of chocolate, gram crackers and marshmallows run out within minutes.
Some reasons programs are unsuccessful can be because certain buildings’ structures may or may not allow students to be able to interact or actually see the programs. Buildings such as Elwell and Northumberland have lobbies where there is access to be involved. Soltz has a disadvantage because of the lounges being at the corners of the building. There is no center to the building, so it is harder for students to be interested in the activities. Not to mention the suite style of the building. Soltz is apartment style and allows students to stay to themselves and never come out to socialize.
Kristen Pepe, a sophomore, mentions how when she was a freshman, she would attend almost all of the programs planned for the building. She lived at Montour Hall where she would not only attend the programs with friends but would go by herself because she was friends with most of the CA’s there. However, now that she is older, she doesn’t attend them at all.
There can be numerous reasons as to why students don’t participate in programs. Remember it can fun to be involved and try out new things. The CA’s take time out of their schedules to make sure we have fun, so try out one this week and see if you like it. You never know until you try.
