The Freshman Survival Guide’s Interactive RA?

Soon after arriving on campus, many freshmen realize they need real help in making a smooth transition to college life. In researching The Freshman Survival Guide, it became clear that some students didn’t feel comfortable approaching their local resident assistant on staff for any number of reasons (e.g. their issues felt too personal and they were embarrassed, they were afraid of getting in trouble, they simply didn’t like their RA etc).

While we believe it is best for students, in general, to avail themselves of their local support staff, we also realized that it could be helpful for some students to have the option of contacting an experienced RA anonymously with some of their more delicate issues. The Interactive RA (iRA) is our attempt to bridge that gap. In every chapter of our Freshman Survival Guide book we encourage students to go online if they have questions they’d like to ask of our team of actual resident assistants about topics that might be embarrassing or difficult to discuss with their own RA.

Resident assistants from colleges around the country are available to answer your questions online through our partnership with ResidentAssistant.com, the nation’s leading online resource for residence life—a free service of Campus Advantage, Inc., the largest private student housing firm in North America. The Interactive RA is an unpaid position–though each team member will receive a copy of the book for free. We’re looking for people with some experience dealing with freshmen and some insight into their lives so that they will have a feel for what these students are coping with.

Ultimately we’d like our Interactive RAs to give some sound advice online and encourage those who contact them to also seek help on their local campuses. We also expect our iRAs to contribute to our iRA blog by writing up some experiences/advice from your own experiences working with students.

If that sounds interesting to you, please send a cover letter, a resume and three references to this email address:

info@thefreshmansurvivalguide.com