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Get the most interesting and important stories from the University of Pittsburgh.Resident Assistants (RAs) are among the most important people students connect with while living on campus. From teaching residents how to do laundry to helping them make friends, RAs are there, guiding students to Pitt resources and making the University feel more like home.
This role is perhaps even more important now, as the COVID-19 pandemic adds new concerns and strain on an already complicated time in one’s life.
Pittwire spoke to three RAs in Litchfield Towers, Panther Hall and Sutherland Hall as they embark on a new term.
Putting names to faces
Jennifer Espinoza, an RA in Tower B, is an incoming junior majoring in applied developmental psychology who will move on to her master’s degree as part of the Combined Accelerated Studies in Education program in the School of Education.
Her first year at Pitt was interrupted by the pandemic, but even still, she remembers how influential her own RA was: “They always had great programs, they were very helpful. They made me realize that I wanted to be that person for other first-year students.”
Just before the pandemic struck, she interviewed in person for an RA position. By the time she was accepted into the program, she was home in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, finishing out the spring 2020 term. “I was a little nervous and sad that my RA experience would probably not be what I was expecting,” Espinoza said, “but I was still very excited and happy to accept.”
Her training in fall 2020 was entirely virtual, as the RAs prepared to connect with students as much as possible while staying safe.
“It was kind of lonely at first — we couldn’t even meet the rest of the staff in person,” she said. But Espinoza still tried to get to know her fellow RAs “through the screen,” and was able to safely meet many of her fellow Litchfield Towers staff in spring 2021.
As Espinoza returns this year, she said she feels confident.
“Everything is subject to change, but I’m hopeful that I will be able to actually put names to faces this year (rather than masks), and I have the experience of virtual already, so I’m prepared for that as well.”
After graduation, Espinoza hopes to become a teacher and later a counselor. Espinoza is involved across campus, as not only an RA but as a member of the Latinx student association as well as being a Browne Fellow, which gives her the opportunity to work within the Pittsburgh community as a teacher aid.
Beyond the first year
Pittsburgh native Nikolai Czepiel is a sophomore University Honors College student majoring in linguistics and minoring in Korean who is an RA in Panther Hall.
“I want to help people have a good college experience and avoid sitting alone in their dorm all the time,” Czepiel said. He said he’s excited to be the RA of a building with older students. “Upperclassmen already have a lot of it figured out, so I can help them with networking and emotional support rather than just the dorm basics.”
Czepiel also said he is not particularly nervous about the potential uncertainty of this year. “I have the idea in my head of what an in-person RA should be like, and I have the experience of having an RA during a virtual year, so I feel prepared for both sides.”
Still, he said, “It’ll be a learning curve. I’ll have to find out what my residents need from me.”
After college, Czepiel hopes to teach foreign languages, either at home or abroad.
Bringing normal back
Mark Farino, a senior University Honors College student, is the only person interviewed who has experienced a full year of residence life without COVID-19. Farino is double majoring in math and physics, as well as completing a French minor and hopes to attend graduate school for physics.
Farino, a native Pittsburgher, is also the president of the National Residence Hall Honorary. As president, Farino helps recognize people across campus, working with the Resident Student Association and other on-campus organizations.
Farino said he saw the RA opportunity as a chance to build his leadership skills, as well as to provide some closure to his undergraduate experience. “I lived in Sutherland as a freshman, and now I’m returning as an RA my senior year.”
He is glad to be placed with first-year students, “I think they are a lot more receptive to coming to programs and things like that.”
As part of the small group of RAs who have had a full “normal” year of dorm living, Farino hopes that his experience can be helpful to others: “I know what usually happens on campus, and I hope that my experience can help other people.”
— Kendal Johnson