Bulletin Board Winners: April/May 2014

East Campus

It's a two way tie!

Winner: Alyssa Suhm, Sullivan

Bulletin Board: A Greener Future (goes along with a CB to make recycled/sustainable crafts!)

Winner: Steph Misdary, Sheehan

Bulletin Board: Toxic Thoughts You Need to Drop for a Better Life

Main Campus

Winner: Ash Mammen, Moriarty

Bulletin Board: Comic Book (with real turning pages!)

South Campus

It's a two way tie!
Winner: Cristina Carroll, St. Monica

Bulletin Board: BuzzFeed (with previously collected resident responses)

Winner: Jason Sutjiawan, Caughlin

Bulletin Board: Year in Review (with photos of residents from throughout the year)

West Campus

It's a two way tie!
Winner: Marissa Bonanno, Klekotka

Bulletin Board: Caffeine Facts

Winner: Katie Edin, Farley

Bulletin Board: Final Story

CB Spotlight: Week of 4/14/2014

Easter Egg Hunt
Hosted by: Sullivan RAs
CB Category: Caritas - Spiritual/Moral
Objective: For residents to enjoy an Easter Egg Hunt with a deeper meaning - the eggs were filled with candy and sections of scripture and residents were asked to guess the correct origin of the snippets

CB Spotlight: Week of 4/7/2014

PBJ & K
Hosted by: Kate Florio, Delurey
CB Category: Unitas
Objective: For residents to enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and catch up with Kate

CB Spotlight: Week of 3/31/2014

Mind on My Money
Hosted by: Ladonna Edwards, Good Counsel
CB Category: Veritas
Objective: Teach residents to be financially savvy

Bulletin Board Winners: March 2014

East Campus

Winner: Alyssa Suhm, Sullivan

Bulletin Board: Foods for Focus

Main Campus

Winner: Delurey RAs - Kate Florio, Allie Macri, & Joey Reckamp

Bulletin Board: Delurey Treasure Hunt bulletin boards (and CB!)

South Campus

Winner: Erin Digan, St. Monica

Bulletin Board: Oh the Places You'll Go

West Campus

Winner: Katie Edin, Farley

Bulletin Board: Super March

CB Spotlight: Week of 3/24/2014

Learn to Iron with Your RA
Hosted by: Zack Banuelos, Good Counsel
CB Category: Veritas
Objective: Help residents brush up on their ironing skills as they prepare for interviews and formals

CB Spotlight: Week of 3/17/2014

Slice of Madness
Hosted by: Brendan Shea, Alumni
CB Category: Unitas
Objective: Create a March Madness style pie bracket (shown on Brendan's bulletin board) so that residents can vote for their favorite pies and ultimately choose a winning pie

CB Spotlight: Week of 3/10/2014

Treasure Hunt Bulletin Boards
Hosted by: Delurey RA Staff
CB Category: Veritas
Objective: Create bulletin boards with clues that lead residents to fun activities and learning

Click on the treasure map to see the winning bulletin boards that went along with this CB!

Bulletin Board Winners: February 2014

East Campus

Winner: Conor O'Neil, Sheehan

Bulletin Board: The Evolution of Bond

Main Campus

Winner: Joey Reckamp, Delurey

Bulletin Board: Be an Olympian / Medal Count

South Campus

Winner: Erin Malone, Stanford

Bulletin Board: Be My Valentine: Love by Numbers

West Campus

Winner: Shannon Markert, Rudolph

Bulletin Board: Reasons You Are One in a Minion

CB Spotlights: January/February 2014

Magic Show
Hosted by: Sheehan RA Staff
CB Category: Unitas
Objective: Enjoy a magical performance by a Sheehan resident for Sheehan residents

Dan Wu, Sheehan RA who helped organize this CB, shared the following about how it was planned:

The Magic Show CB was all planned by my own resident, who is a professional magician himself!  I simply ensured that a room was reserved and any necessary equipment that he needed was provided.  I briefly introduced him before he started his Magic Show. Overall, it went well with great attendance and many leaving in awe of his magic tricks. He did everything from card tricks to correctly guessing certain words or numbers that only you were shown.

Grilled Cheese Night

Hosted by: West Campus RAs
CB Category: Veritas
Objective: Give residents information about different kinds of grilled cheeses and let them try out their favorite

CASA Fed Valentine's Party

Hosted by: CASA Fed RA Staff
CB Category: Unitas
Objective: Bring together sophomore residents to celebrate Valentine's Day with music and sweet treats

CASA Fed residents make a congo line during the Valentine's Party!

CASA Fed RAs show their Valentine's Day spirit!

Fresh Breath, Fresh Start

Hosted by: Ayo Onatunde, St. Clare
CB Category: Unitas
Objective: Welcome back residents with some gum or mints and a chance to mingle with their fellow floor members

How Being an RA Has Helped Me in "Real Life"

by Bridget Kiley, Stanford RA

When we arrive at college, we enter a brand new place where we are exposed to hundreds of other fresh-faced students, un-filled course requirements and thousands of decisions to make from “what do I wear today?” to “what will my major and future career be?”

Some freshmen enter their first year of college witnessing RAs through a certain lens, which portrays them as the ones ending parties, on duty late nights, and handling difficult situations. Inevitably, individuals viewing RAs through that lens end up thinking, “There is NO way I will ever become an RA.”  Yet, they are seeing through a lens portraying a small sliver of the RA experience, which shows a distorted image.

I was fortunate to see the RA experience through a different lens then the one described above that led to one of the most formative decisions I have made during my time at Villanova. That decision was, “I WANT to be an RA.”
I had some great RAs and friends who were in the role during my undergrad years. I learned about what I could gain from the experience through those individuals, but it was not until I was actually living out the role of RA that I realized the effect the experience would have on me and the ways it would prepare me for “real life.” From relationships, to skills for my everyday life, to learning how to expertly handle difficult situations and preparing me for a future professional career, I value all the ways I have grown from my experiences in Residence Life.

With 15 RAs on my direct staff, 500 students in my building, 100+ Residence Life staff members throughout campus, and a whole staff of professionals working in Residence Life, you see the immense amount of individuals, work and organization involved. It gives you an appreciation for the work behind any staff or organization. In being with so many others, you can learn a lot about communication, developing interpersonal relationships and group dynamics. You are immersed in community building, group meetings and one-on-one conversations simply because you are a part of the community. In turn, you discover a web of skills and knowledge through all of the people and experiences you have.  Crafting skills have been a huge area of growth for me. I have learned about the beauty of mod podge and created numerous Christmas presents as a result of decorating my hall and uncovering my artistic side.

Being an RA has not just provided me with the opportunity to make friends and get crafty. I feel prepared career-wise through this job. Forbes came out with an article in 2013, “Top 10 skills employers want in 20-something employees.” After reading through it, it helped me realize how much the RA experience has prepared me. Forbes list includes:

#1 Ability to work in a team 

#2 Ability to make decisions and solve problems 

#3 Ability to plan, organize and prioritize work 

#4 Ability to communicate verbally with people inside and outside an organization 

#5 Ability to obtain and process information

If you provide the motivation and care in the RA job, these ALL are skills you learn to master. Working with crisis situations, responding to incidents, time management, planning events, communicating with residents, not to mention the confidence you build through knocking on doors and talking to strangers… (I could go on)… show that being an RA has indeed helped me in real life. Will you let it do the same for you?


Questions, comments, or just want to chat and see if being a RA is as cool as I want to convince you it is? Email me at bkiley01@villanova.edu or stop by Stanford 438!

How To... Host an Awesome Community Builder!

by Elyssa Strickler, Moriarty Head RA

Whether or not you want to acknowledge it, your most successful CBs require planning weeks prior to implementation, as this is the safest way to iron out any wrinkles and avoid disaster (or awkward, one-person-attendance, but you get the picture.) Knowing where, when, how, and why the program is taking place will increase attendance, as well as resident satisfaction and appreciation for your efforts. 

Honestly, the best way to ensure that residents attend a CB is to plan something that they want to do! Just ask them, it’s that simple. You can do this in person, say, at your floor meetings; or you can get a bit more creative! Survey monkey is a personal favorite of mine. By writing up a survey for my residents, I can include questions about potential CBs as well as future floor meeting planning, and information for my bulletin boards.  

Your next step, of course, is planning the CB. Pick a time that works for your residents as well as you. If you end up having to cancel a night in Philly that you've been looking forward to for months, you will probably be a little bitter and your residents will notice; if you seem like you don’t want to be there, they sure won’t! A great way to ensure this does not happen is to sit down with your planner (or however you keep track of your crazy schedule) and commit to some days that you are going to use for CBs. This will give you lots of time to put together awesome advertisements and get your residents pumped up for the program, as well as ensure that they don’t make plans for that particular night. 

A good friend once taught me the ‘six P’s to success’: “prior proper planning prevents poor performance.” Keep this in mind and you are bound to host an extremely successful CB.

And if all else fails, order food!!

Bulletin Board Winners: January 2014

East Campus

It's a two way tie!

Winner: Giorgi Kalandadze, Sheehan

Bulletin Board: 2013 in Pictures

Winner: Stephanie Misdary, Sheehan

Bulletin Board: Are You Living the Dream?

Main Campus

It's a two way tie!

Winner: Ashby Mammen, Moriarty

Bulletin Board: Find the Secret Image

Winner: Steven Gulotta, Simpson

Bulletin Board: Find Your Favorite Color

South Campus

Winner: Kris Reclusado, St. Monica

Bulletin Board: 2014 Presents a Year of Dreams

West Campus

Winner: Lauren Raguette, Gallen

Bulletin Board: Goal Setting

How To... Make a Winning Bulletin Board!

by Nata Flinn, Katharine Head RA

Whether you’re a 6-year RA veteran or this is your first year on the job, chances are that you've experienced that late-night bulletin board struggle at least once. Res Life is closed for the night, the printer in your campus office is out of paper, and you know your Staff Supervisor is coming around first thing in the morning. Aughhh! So you staple a few papers to the board, sprinkle on some glitter, and call it a night, promising yourself that you’ll be better next month. 

So what can you do to make your bulletin boards better? While we might not all have the capabilities of Res Life’s very own craft goddess Michele, here are a few tips on how to make your bulletin boards rock!

Bulletin boards are the perfect time to tap into your inner gold (even if you have to reach deep down in there), so get planning! First things first, you have to think of the board’s content. There are great resources that you can tap into on the internet. I’m a personal fan of Pinterest myself. But oftentimes the best sources of inspiration are all around you - your residents! Talk to them and see what they’d like to see up on the board. Residents typically like bulletin boards best when they are interactive, relevant, and aesthetically pleasing. 

Maybe they've taken up a recent interest in astrology, so why not post the monthly horoscope predictions for each sign and write the names of your residents under their sign? March Madness is quickly approaching, so how about starting up a Bulletin Board bracket? You can make it a CB and Bulletin Board all in one!

Once you've figured out what you want to do, it’s time to figure out how to do it! If you’re stuck this is a great time to tap into some of your resources, cough cough Michele. Crafty staff members and returners can also give you some great ideas on how to start visualizing your board. When you've got it all figured out in your head, take pen to paper and start drawing out a rough sketch of your board. Making sure it keeps in line with the bulletin board guidelines, hand in your bulletin board proposal to your Staff Supervisor. Once you've got the green light, take a look at these tips to bring your board to life!

• Make your bulletin board title quick and easy to read! Same goes for all of your written text. Residents will be more likely to read your bulletin board if it’s got short blurbs of text, not a doctorate dissertation. 
• Make sure your bulletin board seems “balanced.” Try to take up as much space on the board as possible, without the board seeming too squished or having huge gaps of space.
• Be creative with your use of colors, or stick within a “color theme!”
• When possible, try to make your bulletin board interactive or informative! If you’re on West, have residents submit their favorite recipes and put them up on the board. You could also have residents bring you something that is representative of them (a memento, a photo from home, etc.) that they'd be willing to share and post it up on the board to create a “Diversity Wall.” The possibilities are endless when you give yourself enough time to plan!

February bulletin boards are coming up… Go get 'em, tigers! Look at the VillanovaRA Pinterest account and these great ones below to get your minds jogging!

• http://www.pinterest.com/theraguide/bulletin-boards/
• http://www.pinterest.com/rachellynn17/ra-bulletin-boards/
• http://www.pinterest.com/callierimpfel/ra-bulletin-boards-and-program-ideas/

Current RAs Tell You Why to Apply!

See what some current RAs have to say about
why they applied & what they love about the job!

Name: Moe Shaltout
Building: Austin / Stanford
Class Year: Junior
Major: Computer Science

What is your favorite part of being an RA?
"My favorite part of being an RA is establishing a close relationship with my residents and staff. I have been able to meet a wide collection of amazing undergraduate and graduate students that I wouldn't have met if I wasn't an RA."

How has being an RA helped you in other areas of your life?
"Being an RA has helped me build more effective communication and organizational skills."

What is the best lesson you have learned from being an RA?
"The best lesson that I have learned from being an RA is the importance of assuming responsibility. If I see something going on that shouldn't be, even if it's not taking place on my own floor, I feel obligated to address the issue."


Name: Dylan Toolajian
Building: Stanford
Class Year: Sophomore
Major: Nursing

What is your favorite part of being an RA?
"My favorite part about being an RA is getting so close to my staff. Having a supportive circle of friends on campus who share some of my responsibilities has been really wonderful - we share and laugh a lot, even when we all get stressed out."

What do you think is the most challenging part of being an RA?
"The most challenging part of being an RA, for me, is assertiveness. The job sometimes requires you to initiate uncomfortable situations and scenarios, and then resolve them, such as when you are documenting a resident. Thankfully, you need this kind of assertiveness in the real world, and the RA job is the best way to practice."

What is the best lesson you have learned from being an RA?
"The best lesson I have learned from the job is that I am very capable outside of my comfort zone. I thought I would be strangled by my nervousness, but I've become a more confident and able person all around by confronting it."


Name: Marissa Bonanno

Building: Klekotka
Class Year: Junior
Major: Chemical Engineer

Why did you apply to be an RA?
"I had really great RAs freshman and sophomore year that inspired me to apply. They did an amazing job making me feel welcome and comfortable in my hall, so I wanted to do the same for others."

What is your favorite part of being an RA?
"My favorite part of being an RA is the reward of knowing that I have improved the lives of others."

What do you think is the most challenging part of being an RA?
"The most challenging part of being an RA is finding the appropriate balance between being a friend and being an authority figure. Since I am a junior living with other juniors that I know from my classes, it can sometimes be uncomfortable to enforce policy."

Name: Bridget Kiley
Building: Stanford
Class Year: Graduate Student
Program: Counseling, Concentration in Secondary Education

Why did you apply to be an RA?
"I went to Villanova for undergrad and I saw the impact an RA could make on residents. I wanted to be a part of building community, getting to know and providing support for students, as well as developing my leadership skills through the role. Being an RA never fit with the other extracurricular obligations I had as an undergrad. I was lucky to be coming back for graduate school and offered the opportunity to be a RA!"

What do you think is the most challenging part of being an RA?
"At first, I felt like I wanted to fix everyone's problems and respond immediately to every situation. I have learned that just providing a listening ear or a calm presence is the most important. Knowing that not everything can be fixed through my powers continues to be a challenge, but having the support of my staff and more experience has helped me grow and take on the challenge confidently."


Name: Teddy Powers

Building: Stanford
Class Year: Senior
Major: Marketing

What is your favorite part of being an RA?
"I like working with the residents 1-on-1 and seeing them develop into the best and most successful people they can be."

What do you think is the most challenging part of being an RA?
"Drawing the line between authority figure and peer. It's a tough call sometimes as to what you need to be to gain the respect of your residents."

How has being an RA helped you in other areas of your life?
"It's helped me be more balanced and disciplined."

Name: Elyssa Strickler

Building: Moriarty
Class Year: Senior
Major: Criminal Justice

How has being an RA helped you in other areas of your life?

"Being an RA has given me confidence that I simply never had. After my first year of being an RA, I interviewed for an internship that, I honestly believe, I would have otherwise been too intimidated to even apply for. In that interview, all I talked about was being an RA and it worked! I even connected with an interviewer who had been an RA in college."

What is the best lesson you have learned from being an RA?

"That I can do anything I put my mind to; I no longer back down from something simply because it may be challenging."


Name: Kate Florio

Building: Delurey
Class Year: Senior
Major: Biology

Why did you apply to be an RA?
"I applied to be an RA because I was interested in making a bigger difference on campus. I wanted to be a leader, but also be a friend to residents and help them/answer their questions. It is tough to be a sophomore sometimes, and I wanted to be a resource for those that might be struggling."

How has being an RA helped you in other areas of your life?
"During job interviews, I never have to hesitate when someone asks me about a challenge I have faced in the past or a time when I worked well with a team. Being an RA is great preparation for job and graduate school interviews!"

Name: Shondaray Ducheine

Building: St. Mary's
Class Year: Junior
Major: Classical Studies, Education

What is your favorite part of being an RA?
"Connecting with my residents because I love having the opportunity to meet new people and discover amazing things in them."

How has being an RA helped you in other areas of your life?
"It has allowed me to be more of a leader on campus in other organizations. It also helps me in the classroom with presentations and group work."

What is the best lesson you have learned from being an RA?
"Be open to improvisation! Not everything goes according to plan. And, if chaos develops, do not panic! Create something wonderful with the chaos and grow from it."


Name: Victoria Carbone

Building: Sullivan
Class Year: Senior
Major: Communication, specialization in Public Relations

Why did you apply to be an RA?

"To be able to live on campus and to get to know more people at Villanova."

What do you think is the most challenging part of being an RA?

"Getting to know all of my residents' names because I have so many of them."

How has being an RA helped you in other areas of your life?

"It has helped me with my time management skills and has helped me simultaneously complete multiple tasks."

Learn even more about being an RA at the RA Info Session

on Tuesday January 21st at 7:30pm in Driscoll 132!

The application is available on Novasis and due January 27th!