Joys of Being an R.A.

As I'm sure anyone who knows me knows that I got a position as a resident assistant this school year.

Well, even though school has been in session for almost a month now, very little has gone on.

The first thing that I was ever called in on was something completely harmless, yet scary and hilarious all wrapped into one. I was sitting in my arm chair that faces my door on my duty night, doing some homework, when one of my residents appeared in my doorway. She was half laughing, obviously trying to speak. She managed to let out that she needed my "muscles" in her suite mate's room. Curious and half concerned, I followed her, figuring that maybe they needed to move some furniture or something (since out furniture is outrageously heavy and bulky).

Anyway, on the way down the hallway, she explains to me that her suite mate and few friends were trying to lower the bed in her room that was lofted. Apparently, mid-move, something went awry, causing one of the friends to become trapped. Needless to say, my concern grew and my pace quickened.

When we arrived, I walked into the room and saw a boy holding up one end of the bed. obviously he couldn't move, else the bed would come crashing to the floor. I relaxed a little, figuring that this is what my resident called being "trapped," and started to devise a plan to free him from his position. That is, until I heard a voice coming from between the two beds. Bending over and cocking my head to the side, I realized that between the wall and the lower bed, and UNDER the bed that was being held up by the other boy, was yet ANOTHER boy, quite literally trapped between the beds. He gave me a cheery hello and waved. My jaw dropped in disbelief. He assured me he was okay, just rather uncomfortable with being pinned in such a way. The other boy shared that we couldn't just pull the bed out from off him, but it would have to be lifted, since the bar on the other side of the higher bed was on the wall side of the boy. Luckily, however, there was a group of boys going down the hallway, which one of my residents flagged down, and they came in and assisted us in lifting it off the poor boy.

Once freed, the boy just laughed. All the while, I was trying to regain a normal breathing pattern and heart beat. how the hell does that happen!? It definitely made for a good story for my fellow RAs.


Then, last week, while having a study group meeting in my room, I heard screaming and shouting coming from the hallway. With a roll of my eyes, I went out to investigate. From the room directly next to me, I saw a few of my residents standing out in the hallway, hands clasped over their mouths and a loud commotion coming from their common room. Concerned once again, I inquired as to what the problem was. Come to find out, apparently their bathroom door was shaking within its frame, as if someone was pushing it and knocking on it, from the inside. The girls refused to open the door, obviously scared to death.

Well, being afraid that something serious was going on, and knowing that it was my job to take care of these girls, walked right up and opened the door. As soon as the door swung open, the girls that were crowded around me screamed, and this is what we saw.


(If you can't tell, they're wearing clear masks...)

Apparently, they were some of my other residents playing a trick on their floor mates. Oh, my residents.