Every Residential Advisor at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, is required to adapt a specific monthly theme to his or her bulletin board. During the month of April, Cavalier Farms RAs were asked to promote career opportunity. The Cavalier Farms community is the freshmen building of McCraray Hall that is used to promote a learning environment for first year students. UVa-Wise, like all colleges and Universities, strive toward one goal: providing students with knowledge that helps them establish a skill set enabling them to obtain a successful future. Every RA at UVa- Wise works hard to develop a unique and informative bulletin board; however, RA Kate DiRosa’s board caught the eyes of many students and faculty members.

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RA Kate DiRosa first caught the attention of residents by using newspaper clipping for her bulletin board background instead of a normal plain color. Kate numbered folding cards with the days of the month. Each day of April included a helpful tip for residents to read and could only be revealed on that specific date.

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Kate DiRosa’s April Bulletin Board provided daily helpful information for residents of McCraray Hall to lead them on the right career path. Kate DiRosa suggests that all residents look on Craigslist and there online job list services, as she emphasizes the growing number of employers using the internet to find potential hirers. In addition, Kate encourages all residents to constantly update their Resume before and after he or she finds a new job or is recognized for participating in a student organization. April 20th is perhaps the most interesting tip. On this day Kate states that job opportunities can arise from a network of family and friends. Kate DiRosa tells residents not to give up if they cannot find a job. She emphasizes that many parents work and have children of a young age. These parents would much rather have a young adult babysit their child rather than sending their child to daycare. Finally, Kate states that it is important to open a checking account at your local bank. Each resident should understand the importance of establishing a monthly budget.

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Kate DiRosa continues to encourage her residents read the tips she has provided for them. On my duty rounds, I often see Kate’s residents reading the daily career tip. There have been numerous times that I have walked by Kate’s room to find one of her residents asking for help on a resume.

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Overall I believe Kate DiRosa’s April bulletin board was well organized. Her informative board had long lasting effects on residents. Kate’s board succeeded in making an impact on residents. I believe that each resident that read the help job searching tips from Kate DiRosa’s bulletin board helped him or her establish a set of goals to accomplish.

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This month’s bulletin board topic was a way for the residents’ life to opening the eyes of residents that career planning starts now as freshmen. The April theme asked RAs to focus on career opportunities and summer job tips. This theme can be implemented by other campuses fairly easy as creativity possibilities are endless. Kate drew attention to her board by using newspaper as her background. If your campus were to have a career opportunity theme, you could create three dimensional objects glued onto the board. These objects could be things like a dress tie, pencil, or a diploma with your University or college’s name printed on the ribbon.

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