Describing Jacob's many positive attributes would take quite awhile, but let me list a few:

When Jacob first started the semester he quickly set up a "Lunch with your RA" program to get to know the students on his floor. He had roommates sign up to eat a meal with him, but he never allowed more than 3 students at a time so that he could get to know the students individually. Jacob quickly learned the names of the residents on his floor and enjoyed playing a game with them where he guessed facts about them without any background knowledge. It was uncanny how accurate he often was, guessing how many sibilings they had, if they were oldest or youngest and what their interests and high school involvements were.

Jacob joined a flag football team with his floor and the girls on 2nd floor made the team and cheerleaders matching t-shirts. The 2nd floor students felt comfortable around Jacob instantly and because Jacob is always in his room or has his door open, the students stop by all the time.

Beyond being a friend to the residents, Jacob does a great job of maintaining a community atmosphere that is respectful to everyone. Multiple athletes on 2nd floor reported that they need to go to bed and rise early for their sports, but were not able to go to sleep because the floor was too noisy. To remedy this situation Jacob put in place "early quiet hours" that were an hour early each night. Students were still allowed to visit and hang out, but needed to do so in specific areas that didn't distrupt the athletes. Although this idea was met with a lot of grumbling at first, it helped the students to realize they needed to be aware of how their actions affect others.

Outside of 2nd floor Jacob is also an exceptional leader for the entire hall. He has worked hard to know the names of the students on every floor and said his goal is knowing the name of every resident in the hall. Jacob regularily attends the hall EC meetings, going above the required attendance of once a month. He was also a huge help for the EC Halloween Dance. Jacob provided the contact for the DJ (a friend of his) and was able to get the DJ services at a discounted rate. During the day of the dance Jacob worked doing set-up, stayed the entire dance, and helped teardown, working over 11hrs!

In talking with residents from 2nd floor I have heard only very positive feedback from them about Jacob. Their respect and friendship with him are evident by the high attendance at all of his programs. A few of the favorite programs he has hosted are; "Bump, Set, Spikes" a floor dinner/program combo where the floor attended a volleyball game and then went to Spike's, and "Pizza and Politics" a hall program to promote the elections.

I hope this short description has given you a glimpse of what a great RA Jacob is, and what an asset he is to our hall team. If you get a chance stop over and say hi to Jacob, I promise his room will be open.

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