Resident Assistant Spotlight - Christopher Weiss

SIU Residence Life has some great things going on, and we want to showcase some of our proud moments on our blog. We are currently accepting applications for Resident Assistants for the spring 2015 semester. More details, along with the application, can be found on our website. Information sessions about the RA position will be held

     Thursday, 09/18 7pm Neely Hall and Lentz Dining Room #5

RA Spotlight - Christopher Weiss of University Hall

     

Hello everyone! I’m Christopher Weiss, an RA at University Hall. I currently live on the 2nd floor which has been named Mavro House. I am from Batavia, Illinois and I am studying Automotive Technology. I don’t read a lot but from the books I have read my favorite has got to be Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. My favorite place to study is in the small dining room within University Hall, but a great place to get away and relax is the courtyard on the second floor of Faner. It’s hard to find if you are new or not there often, but it is a very nice place. I really enjoy the fresh sandwiches that are made in Trueblood Dining Hall; I get one every day. I love great Chinese food so I will occasionally go get New Kahala, especially now that they moved one block from the residence halls.

I became an RA because I wanted to have some sort of leadership experience in my resume when I left Southern Illinois University. This is a great role to get that experience, and I wanted to put some of my youth leadership skills that I gained from my activity in Boy Scouts of America in my home town. It also is a great feeling when I am able to help out my residents with questions they have and to be a resource for them.

I am currently refining my resume and cover letter to be prepared for the work force. I would love to be employed with Ford Motor Company when I graduate. I know I will have to start at the bottom, but I want to work my way up and achieve a leadership role when I am employed with Ford. There is so much advice that I could give new residents and transferring students. The best advice that most continuing students, including myself, will say is to be involved at SIU. Academics come first but staying involved in clubs (RSOs), a campus job, campus events, your residence hall, and other social activities is going to help you so much. It will help you make lasting friendships as well as keep you busy during your free time. It is a great thing to put on a resume and it helps you meet some of your classmates and fellow residents in your building, campus, and your classes.

Are you an RA and would like to be featured? Talk to your Hall Director about submitting your profile information.

Meet the RAs! - DeJhauna Smith

SIU Residence Life has some outstanding Resident Assistants, and we want to show our appreciation by featuring them on our blog. We also hope people who are considering working in RA, graduate assistant, or full-time positions with our department will take a minute to check out the people who could be their future co-workers! RA profiles are featured on the blog, and graduate and full-time staff profiles (and information about positions) can be found on our recruitment website.

1. What’s your name?  DeJhauna Smith
2. Where are you from?  Evanston, Illinois
3. What’s your major?  Speech Comm with specalization in Public Relations
4. What is your favorite dining hall food?  I like a lot of their foods, but probably the meatloaf and cookies the most.
5. Where is your favorite place to go off-campus?  The mall
6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?  Living in some city, doing event planning. Or Europe, it's all up in the air still!
7. What do you like about being an RA?  Meeting a bunch of different characters.
8. Favorite quote?  "We should all begin to live before we die, fear is stupid so are regrets" - Marilyn Monroe
9. Best study spot on campus?  3rd floor of the library
10. How else are you involved at SIU (besides being an RA)?  SANKOFA, PRSSA, Pyramid (student public relations agency).

Meet the RAs! - Jeremy Strabala

SIU Residence Life has some outstanding Resident Assistants, and we want to show our appreciation by featuring them on our blog. We also hope people who are considering working in RA, graduate assistant, or full-time positions with our department will take a minute to check out the people who could be their future co-workers! RA profiles are featured on the blog, and graduate and full-time staff profiles (and information about positions) can be found on our recruitment website.

Jeremy with another University Hall RA, Sophia Lozano

1.  What’s your name? Jeremy Strabala
2.  Where are you from?  I'm from Streator, Illinois
3.  What’s your major?  My major is Architectural Studies
4.  What is your favorite dining hall food?  University Hall has the best food on campus. I love Shellie's alfredo sauce!!!!
5. Where is your favorite place to go off-campus? I love going to the spillway. There is so much to do there on a hot day. You can play in the waterfall or just lay around in the calm waters at the top. I HIGHLY recommend going!!!
6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? In ten years I can see myself being an experienced architect in California designing the most net zero earth friendly buildings as possible. If that does not pan out then I can definitely see myself working in Res Life because I love being an RA so much that I could see myself being a HD.
7.  What do you like about being an RA?  Being able to be in the position of Resident Assistant is a great opportunity; my favorite part would have to be creating both a community with my residents but also building a family with my staff. In the end we all know we have each others backs and we are there for each other.
8.  Favorite quote?  My favorite quote as of right now is "Character is what you do when no one is watching."
9.  Best study spot on campus?  I think the best place to get some studying done is at the U-Hall study tables that the RAs hold each night in our small dining room. Its always so quiet and I always crank out my homework there.
10.  How else are you involved at SIU (besides being an RA)?  I am a student worker for University Housing contracts, Director of the SIU Carbondale SpringDrag Show, Color Guard member of the Marching Salukis, Saluki Rainbow Network member, and also a Queer Mentors member.

Meet the RAs! - Bridget Grubbs

SIU Residence Life has some outstanding Resident Assistants, and we want to show our appreciation by featuring them on our blog. We also hope people who are considering working in RA, graduate assistant, or full-time positions with our department will take a minute to check out the people who could be their future co-workers! RA profiles are featured on the blog, and graduate and full-time staff profiles (and information about positions) can be found on our recruitment website.

1. What's your name?  Bridget Grubbs

2. Where are you from?  Steger, IL

3. What's your major?  Animal Science specializing in Equine Science (horses)

4. What is your favorite dining hall food?  Probably would have to say “create your own pasta” nights!

5. Where is your favorite place to go off-campus?  The barn – I love being around the horses.

6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?  On a racetrack somewhere training horses or at a farm

helping breed stallions :)

7. What do you like about being an RA?  I love meeting new people all the time! The encounters are

endless and always entertaining!

8. Favorite quote?  "Never look down on anyone unless you’re helping them up." – Jesse Jackson

9. Best study spot on campus?  Hall Council Room of Schneider

10. How else are you involved at SIU (besides being an RA)? I go to the Zumba class four times a week at the Recreation Center, I’ve joined the Horse Judge Team, I’m in Dawg Pound, and I also joined the Alumni Association.

Meet the RAs! - Michael Connor Stuckslager

SIU Residence Life has some outstanding Resident Assistants, and we want to show our appreciation by featuring them on our blog. We also hope people who are considering applying for the RA position will take a minute to check out the people who could be their future co-workers! Look for new RA profiles to be posted regularly as we continue this feature!

What’s your name?  Michael Connor Stuckslager
Where are you from?  Mundelein, IL
What’s your major?  Radio, Television, and Digital Media
What is your favorite dining hall food?  Tacos
Where is your favorite place to go off-campus?  International Grocery
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?  I would hope to have a studio job but I wouldn't mind working free lance on a lot of projects.
What do you like about being an RA?: Creating the community.
Favorite quote?

"We think too much and feel too little.

More than machinery we need humanity, 

more than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. 

Without these qualities life will be violent and all will be lost."
- Charlie Chaplin

Best study spot on campus?  The basement of Kellogg or the garden behind Faner
How else are you involved at SIU (besides being an RA)?  Studio A along with Intramural Sports

Meet the RAs! - Ashley Wenson

SIU Residence Life has some outstanding Resident Assistants, and we want to show our appreciation by featuring them on our blog. We also hope people who are considering applying for the RA position will take a minute to check out the people who could be their future co-workers! Look for new RA profiles to be posted regularly as we continue this feature!

1. What’s your name? Ashley Wenson
2. Where are you from? Mount Prospect, IL
3. What’s your major? German studies and International studies
4. What is your favorite dining hall food? Sesame chicken
5. Where is your favorite place to go off-campus? Giant city trails
6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I see myself being successful within a German company working for their marketing department along with being married and having started a family.
7. What do you like about being an RA? I like that through the smallest things, I can impact another person so easily.
8. Favorite quote? I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing... Kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happiest are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles. - Audrey Hepburn
9. Best study spot on campus? At the tables outside of the library. 
10. How else are you involved at SIU (besides being an RA)? I am master of rituals for Alpha Kappa Psi which is a professional co-Ed business fraternity.

Meet the RAs! - Michelle Patzelt

SIU Residence Life has some outstanding Resident Assistants, and we want to show our appreciation by featuring them on our blog. We also hope people who are considering applying for the RA position will take a minute to check out the people who could be their future co-workers! Look for new RA profiles to be posted regularly as we continue this feature!

1.  What’s your name?  I'm Michelle Patzelt.
2.  Where are you from?  I'm from Chicago Heights, Illinois.
3.  What’s your major?  My major is English Education, and I have a minor in German and plan on being endorsed in Social Studies. I am also an Honors student on track to earn an Honors degree.
4.  What is your favorite dining hall food?  I absolutely love Trueblood's lo mein and chicken kiev; also, chicken strip day is great!
5. Where is your favorite place to go off-campus? If you've never been to Garden of the Gods, I highly suggest you go either in spring or fall (it's so gorgeous!

Garden of the Gods at sunset

6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Obviously, I want to become a teacher, but ten years from now I want to teach high school literature. I'm not sure where just yet; I am hoping for somewhere beautiful. I also hope to be married and working on a family to love and nurture.
7.  What do you like about being an RA?  Holding the position of Resident Assistant is a great opportunity; my favorite part would have to be guiding residents in their life choices. Even though I've only been an RA for a few weeks, I feel like I have really helped one or two residents.
8.  Favorite quote?  My favorite quote as of right now is one of William Butler Yeats about education, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."  9.  Best study spot on campus?  My favorite study spot is the library conference study rooms; I don't study often, but when I do, I really like the library.
10.  How else are you involved at SIU (besides being an RA)?  As I said, I am involved in the Honors Program; I am also working on starting an education discussion-based RSO with an old teacher and some fellow teacher candidates; finally I am trying to start an intramural softball team.