My name is Andrew (or Skelly as most people call me), and I’m a rising junior. I am going to be the Community Advisor (CA) of Schultz Hall this year, and I could not be more excited! I just wanted to talk to you guys about what it’s like living at Allegheny, and give a little bit of advice I’ve picked up through my time here so far.
Let’s talk about Residence Life first. We divide our residence halls into nine separate areas. As incoming first years, you will be placed in either Baldwin, Brooks, Crawford, Edwards, Schultz, Ravine, or Walker. The Sorting Hat determines which dorm is your best fit, and who you will live with….just kidding, we’re not Hogwarts (not yet at least). Each dorm has a number of Resident Advisors (RAs) who live in the halls and make sure everything is safe and comfortable for the residents (that’s you guys). Each building has one CA (that’s me!), and it’s the CA’s job to oversee the RAs, and make sure the building is in good shape. To make an analogy, if our halls were boats, the CAs would be the captains, the RAs would be the main crew, and you guys would be our wonderful guests. The CAs and RAs work directly with the main Office of Residence Life to make sure your living experience is the best it can be! If you want to get a feel for what the buildings are really like, check out Allegheny’s Residence Life Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/AlleghenyResidence
The main Office of Residence Life is found in Reis Hall as part of the Office of Student Life. Here you will find our professional staff members, and they are absolutely fantastic. They all want to help you out as much as they can. Stop on in sometime and say hi!
Skelly Tip #1: get to know your RA and CA, and go to their events!
Your RAs and CA are there to help you, and they are such a great resource for you. These are some of the nicest people on campus, and they can help you so much, whether it be with school related stuff or really just anything. Really, try to get to know them! Throughout the course of the semester, the RAs/CAs will hold different hall bonding activities. They range from movie nights to snowball fights, and all sorts of other things in between. Make an effort to go to these events! First off, you can get a ton of free stuff, and seriously, who doesn’t like free stuff? I guarantee you, you will never have as much free pizza given to you again, take full advantage of it! It’s also a great way to socialize with your hall, and make friends. (more…)