An Open Letter to Residential Well-Being

Hi.

To whoever reads this, let me say: I’m not good with sharing my feelings online. In fact, I prefer to keep myself hidden.

As a good friend said, I’m extremely hard to find. She clarified that she meant to say hard to find online, but the sentiment stands.

However, with February being the month of love, I can’t help but dedicate this to those who I’ve grown fond of; the ones I spend the most time with — student leaders.

Over the past six months, I’ve been in innumerable hours of training, meetings and rounds with about 55 people that were strangers when this all began. Now, even though I’m not best friends with every single one of them, I know they can be counted on when I need help — and I hope the sentiment is the same for them.

That said, I do have favorites. I can’t help it, I’m human.

The first favorites are those I spend the most time with: my triad. When I first met Sarah and Addie, I was nervous. What if we didn’t like each other? What if the trio turned into a duo? My mind was racing over all of the possibilities.

Luckily, it was nothing like that.

Almost immediately, we clicked. For all of the training, we were attached to the hip. Even after spending all day together, we’d gather in the lounge of Harper Hall and do anything — watch TV, listen to music, create door decks. 

But our trio didn’t stop there.

During training, we befriended the others in Harper Hall: Sergey, Mehru, Alex, and Olympia. The seven of us quickly became known as the Harper Squad because, if one of us was someone, the rest were nearby. 

Even as I write this, we were recently in a meeting, and, during attendance, our coordinator said that “Well, if one of you is here, I expect the rest of you are too. I don’t know why I bother asking.”

All of that said, these people have become family to me. This past January, five of us all met up in DC to see one another because we missed each other. Before them, I don’t know if I’ve ever done that for any other group of people, I met merely six months before.

Now, I’ve grown close to each person in the group. We talk about life, ask for advice, go out for coffee, plan movie nights, and so much more. Life isn’t just about classes and working anymore — it’s connections, memories, and love.

And personally, I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have these friends. The past two years of college have been lonely because I never had a group of people that made me feel wanted or accepted. While I’ve made a few friends here and there, none of them felt permanent.

And it wasn’t until this job I felt like I made more.

Outside of Harper, I’ve gotten to know others, too. The two closest are Andrea and Grace. Before this job, I didn’t know who they were. However, I don’t know what I’d do without them now.

While I can’t say every part of this friendship journey has been easy, I do know that I can’t imagine my life without RWB bringing us together. 

These girls brighten my life every day. Together, we hold each other up and support our endeavors. 

For me, I don’t think I’ve been happier. These past two years were worth it if it means that I have friends who make every day worth living.

So, this job isn’t always perfect. In fact, most days it makes me want to cry… and maybe quit. 

However, if there’s anything to take from this, it’s this: this job isn’t perfect, but the people are what make Residential Well-Being a job worth keeping. Without the ones I’ve talked about — and the ones I didn’t — I would have quit before August training even began. 

In the end, this letter belongs to them — every single Student Leader in District 2 who’ve made this whole experience the greatest it could be.

Thank you.

• college
• friends
• friendship
• love
• resident assistant
• residential well-being
• student leader