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About 100 resident assistants moved into the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse residence halls last weekend and are immersed in two weeks of RA training Aug. 17-29.
Training involves a wealth of information, but RAs don’t have to memorize every detail, said Andy Albrecht, a UW-L senior beginning his third year as an RA. That’s why teams of RAs in every residence hall are important, he said.
RAs need to have good communication with other RAs as they will be confronted with similar situations, said Nick Nicklaus, director of resident life at UW-L. Plus, RAs need to know how to bring students together, said Albrecht.
“You are learning to build a community and get people to know each other,” he said. “We want to help them have an awesome experience in the halls.”
All this training gives RAs plenty of time to get to know one another, learn teamwork and other things that will likely come in handy this year. At the same time, some skills can’t be taught, said Albrecht.
“You really have to want to be there to help students — that is the main thing,” he said.
Rudig said she’s a good listener and is flexible, so that will likely come in handy as an RA.
“I think it will be a good experience to grow,” she said. “I’m planning to major in elementary education, and working with students will definitely help with that.”
Start dates
La Crosse’s three colleges start classes on the following days:
KJ Lang can be reached at klang@lacrossetribune.com.
