Fernando Marca/Staff Writer
While the school year may be over for some, other FIU students choose to take classes over summer to get ahead in their studies or stay on track. Of these students, a few opt to stay on campus for the summer term, utilizing residential halls offered by Housing and Residential Life.
The students living in dorms all have residential assistants that are responsible for their safety and well-being. Aside from that, these RA’s also make sure that their students interact with each other and aren’t too bored by hosting individual RA programs such as pizza parties and game nights. It is up to each RA to make their own event program for their residents.
Jaime Weiser, a senior majoring in marketing, has been an RA since August 2016, and is currently working at Parkview Hall. Over the last two years, Weiser has had to be an RA for all kinds of students in the different residence halls she’s worked at.
While noise complaints and desk duties can keep her up at wild hours, Weiser finds it all worth it knowing her events help her residents feel more at ease.
“Living somewhere new can be hard, and sometimes students struggle to adapt or meet new people. I feel personally responsible to make them feel at home and floor events are a great way for them to break out of their shell and get to know their floormates,” said Weiser.
So far this summer, Weiser has only had couple movie nights and a meet and greet/icebreaker night for her residents, but hopes to continue hosting events to foster better relationships with her residents.
“I’ll always have something ready for them, but the more interest the show the more creative I can be,” Weiser told us in an interview.
Aside from their individual RA programs, resident assistants also host larger building-wide programs. Working with the resident director of their respective buildings, RA’s can team up to host these bigger events for all the residents in their halls. The added manpower allows the RA’s to throw mixers, seeking to get even more students to know each other. Weiser strongly urges residents to check these events out.
“The dorm events are some of my favorite parts of our programming. Students sometimes don’t get along with other residents on their floor but these mixers allow them to meet a whole new group they had no clue was living just a floor away,” said Weiser.
The largest housing events offered are the community-wide programs by Residential Life with the RA’s. These are spaced out and take a lot more planning, but are offered to all students in Housing. These events are extremely social and usually require much more planning and set up.
Their next event will be a pool party held at the housing quad pool. Residents will be welcome to play in the pool or participate in beach volleyball. Pizza and other refreshments will be offered, according to Weiser.
Weiser says that while the date is not set in stone, the pool party will be in mid-July. For any students who wish to keep track of this event, pay attention to your FIU email for an upcoming email from FIU Residential Life.
The post Parkview RA talks housing events appeared first on PantherNOW.