How I finally got my stint as an RA…

Posted by admin on Nov 3, 2005 in Featured Articles | 0 comments

Footsteps running down the hall, a voice over the intercom: “Emily! If you still have my pink shirt, I want it back!” I jam my feet into my slippers and shuffle down the hall toward breakfast… and my job. Later today, I’ll bake eight-dozen cookies and make seven-layer dip for snack. Heather Marsh (’03), my fellow Trinity grad and coworker, is washing ten loads of laundry. She gives me the thumbs-up and we grin at each other. Tuesdays are always fun.
It’s 9:00 and I’m still in my pajamas. Once we send the girls off to school—and take showers—we’ll have a staff meeting about the Mafia-themed party we’re throwing for some students on Friday. Should we attempt to make tiramisu or not? Heather wants to know, how do female mobsters dress? The boys all have dark suits, but what should the girls wear?

I live in southwestern Germany at a boarding school for missionary kids. It’s called Black Forest Academy, and this year there are about 350 junior high and high school students attending. Most have American passports, but if you ask them where they’re from, the answers range from Texas to Ethiopia—and everything in between!

At BFA, I work as a resident assistant in one of the girls’ dorms. This year our house consists of: twenty-seven teenage girls, the dorm parents and their two kids, and three RA’s. Because these students spend most of the year apart from their parents, the RA’s play big roles in their lives. Resident assistants are university graduates who spend a year or two or three acting as mentors/older siblings/surrogate parents to the kids attending the school. We live on the halls with them, so we’re there to tuck them into bed, fix breakfast and snacks, and do a little tutoring on the side. The biggest and best part of the job, though, is the chance to hang out with and informally disciple students day in and day out. RA’s are there for the big events—Christmas banquets, graduation, and Friday night activities, and the small ones too—shoulder crying, soccer games, and spontaneous snowball fights.

These last two years have been rich, fun, and fulfilling. I’ve learned about youth work, team dynamics, how to cook for 50 without breaking a sweat, and the lyrics to every Relient K song ever written. I have a German driving license, a passport full of European stamps, and a perpetual grin. I love my job!
Currently, there are four TWU alumnae working at BFA: Kristin Howard (’02), Heather (Hilton) Powers (’03), Heather Marsh (’03), and myself (’04). We like to joke that soon Trinity will take over BFA! I’m convinced that BFA is a fantastic place to live, work, and minister– it’s the best job since ice-cream testing.

Editor’s note: For more information, or to send good wishes, e-mail Janelle at janellepence@hotmail.com.