Alex has 19 residents within his wing in Posada San Pedro residence hall and he spends one on one time with each resident every two weeks, checking in with them to see how they’re adjusting and providing advice whenever possible. In addition to this, Alex regularly spends additional time with his residents during the week playing games, socializing, and eating meals in the residence hall.

Since the start of the New Start program on June 8, Alex planned and hosted six of his own programs for residents and been a part of a Monte Carlo themed dance committee that was highly successful in welcoming students to campus. He has been required to submit evaluations on a weekly basis about his programs and experiences. Before each week he must also submit a plan for the week, including his programs and their topics. Since many of the residents were new to the Tucson area and the college experience, they didn’t have many friendships or connections. To solve this, three of these programs were socials to build relationships and friendships between the residents in his wing and hall. The other three programs were educational programs, which exposed residents to topics that they may not have ever been aware of before. The first program was LBGTQ awareness, which spent time educating residents about this community and the discrimination and inequality that this group faces on a daily basis. The second program was about sustainability, exploring conservation issues and recycling. The third program was regarding general health issues that many college students face. It emphasized the importance of sleep, exercise, and a healthy diet. These programs were all clearly a great start to getting residents to be socially and personally responsible people within the residence hall communities.

Alex has also been responsible for creating bulletin boards for residents to view within his wing. He changes these bulletin boards once a week, creating a new topic and discussion every week. These bulletin boards have focused on the topics of sexual health and consent, diversity, sustainability, general health, and information on campus resources. Alex has taken the additional effort to coordinate some of these bulletin boards to match up with the weekly programming activities that have been hosted within the residence hall.

Ultimately, Alex has done a phenomenal job being welcoming during a time when residents need a leader and role model who has already been exposed to the college life, not only thriving within it, but succeeding above and beyond many others as a leader on campus. Residents in Alex’s wing can be expected to have an easier transition than those who might not have resident assistants that are committed, passionate, and involved as Alex has been.

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