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Originally posted by DSTinguished1
Does any NPHC members want to comment on this? i know my cousin was having questions about this. I gave her my advice but I know that its different for different schools and different people. please share thanks
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I am not in an NPHC sorority, but my experience may be more comparable to you than the NPC experiences shared so far.
I am in an LGLO, and I joined 2nd semester sophomore year, which was also my first semester as an RA. And I won't lie, it was HARD. My process was a lot of work, and being an RA is a lot of work, but if you balance your time right it can be done. I was on duty once a week and was required to be in my room from 7 pm to 7 am on duty nights, so I took advantage of this time to STUDY and get work done because I did not have much free time that semester.
I had the additional responsibility of going through RA training and the RA class WHILE I was an RA rather than before I started the job. RAs at my school apply in the fall and usually take the RA class in the spring, come back for training in the summer, and then start working. In my situation, somone left their RA position mid-year, so I was hired to start early and get training as I was working. It was an additional responsibility and challenge added to an already challenging semester, but I pulled it off somehow. The thing about my RA class that made it "interesting" was that we had an AKA pledge, 2 Delta pledges, a Kappa pledge, a member of a local Black fraternity, and, to top it all off, one of our two teachers was a Delta who LOVED to ask me questions.
But I can't tell you how good it felt to go to the final exam of that class wearing my beautiful brand-new letters and showing my class and my sandz that I was finally done!!
After that first semester, balancing the sorority and RA responsibilities was easier in my opinion. Of course, there were meetings and programs for the sorority that I missed, but I knew going into all of these things that my RA job would have to come before sorority events, and my chapter sorors were very understanding of this. Several of them were RAs, so they all new the responsibilities the job entails.
One advantage of being an RA and being in the sorority at the same time was that I got to coordinate programming that involved both groups. At my school, RAs are required to hold 3 programs a semester, and programs that teach about diverse cultures are encouraged. I held a couple Latin dance nights where my sorors came in and taught some of the residents salsa and merengue, I held an immigration forum (and had a HUGE turnout for that program), and held several community service events co-sponsered by Resident life and my sorority. It was a great way to fulfill my job requirements as an RA while contributing to the chapter.
Side note: I was an RA for 3 1/2 years, and I do NOT recommend anyone to stay in the position for so long if you don't have to!