Empowerment

By Garit Gemeinhardt
Resident Assistant
Appalachian State University

There I was at the age of 17, on my way to college with a van packed full of "stuff" that I have accumulated over the years crammed two inches from my head. Butterflies churning in my stomach, thoughts of success brewing in my mind of the coming years. I had just moved from England where I spent the last couple years on an Air Force base with my parents. I had an extra issue to deal with, what are home grown American kids like now.

After pulling up to my residence hall and running up all my stuff to my room, my father turned to me and smiled. "Good luck boy, I know your ready for this." He then walked back to the car and got in to go back to Virginia. That is all he had to say, he empowered me to succeed without letting me be conscious of his teachings. My father taught me how to be successful, but still maintain morals. (Something you rarely see in life.) There was never a "You have to do this or fail." Both of my parents knew it was time for me to take on my own responsibility. That is what empowerment is, giving the knowledge and responsibility to someone in order for them to succeed without constant supervision.

The Resident Assistant provides the empowerment and motivation for residents to participate and take in full the college experience. This is the "challenge" of every RA every day of their job. How can we help our residents improve themselves and succeed? Not just in school, but take the life's lessons learned in college and use them in the real world where mommy and daddy aren't paying for school.

This process starts with respect. There is no such thing as a worthwhile relationship without respect. The first floor meeting provides a chance to command respect from your residents and let them know exactly what you are here for. I tend to start my first meetings breaking down all the rules and policies the University expects residents to follow. After this onslaught of rules and regulations, I give them a chance to talk, which usually doesn't happen because of nerves. You get this offsetting quiet, nervous, won't talk if my life depended on it, reaction. Next, I follow with my own little spiel, "I don't expect everyone to like me, as long as you respect me. You could hate me for all the times I am going to tell you to turn down your music and how it is not ok to yell at the top of your lungs at three in the morning running down the hall naked, but respect me to my face is all I ask." Then comes the obligatory, "I hope everyone does like me though."

My residents are not just normal students here at Appalachian State University. Whether they know it or not, they are my like my family that I am going to be seeing everyday for the next 10 months. If they're ever to have a problem or question about school, and sometimes life, they know that I am here. They don't have to deal with problems by themselves.

After being a resident assistant for over a year, I am just now learning what it means to empower on a leadership level. I thought I knew what empowerment meant when I had the most residents at RSA every Tuesday night my first semester. I realized later that it turned out to be a facade, my residents were just trying to appease me. When it came down to it, I didn't empower any of my residents. We did not accomplish much community service or even develop a community on the floor. Some of my residents did not know each other's names. And it is not that I have a giant floor, I only have 17 residents.

This year is one of change, change in my expectations of my residents and change in the expectations I have for myself. As a floor, we have participated in three community service projects, started an intramural type of football competition against another hall and in our own hall, and each resident knows everyone on our floor! This change is a big one considering we did nothing as a floor last year. I couldn't even get them all to the free pizza party we had.

The biggest change I have made in myself as a RA is talking to every resident on my floor on almost a daily basis. Even if it's a "Hi, how was your day?" it is still something to show that they are not strangers to me and I do care about what they are doing. The other changes that have happened this year are delegating some responsibilities out to residents. One resident maintains the publicity for the entire hall; another maintains a weekly schedule for my floor for activities that we have planned. This is by no means the best way for every RA, but is what has worked for my floor.

The concept of empowerment is difficult grasp because of it being so subtle. It has to be subtle to work effectively. Just like in the case with my father, he was preparing me for my future every day. As RA's we have to try to accomplish the same goal. You should be there for residents when they need it, but let them make their own decisions. There still has to be a slight push from RA's in the direction of leadership and personal growth. But it is possible to be there for them without taking away their own accountability. No "eighth wonder of the world", is it?

Empowerment is a vital part of success as a leader in any walk of life. It requires one to dig deep and give up control without giving up influence. Empowerment is the reason leaders lead. It is what shows the lessons being learned, discipline, and respect with every accomplishment. Empowerment is the backbone of every RA's success.