[Photo 1] RA talking with her RC student during her rounds

   Active communication and interaction between RC students and their in-charge RAs are the major priorities of the Appenzeller House. In order to ensure that the students would be able to relate their personal or academic anxieties to their RAs, Appenzeller House RAs ensure that they would go for a ‘round’ on every alternating week.

   During the ‘rounds’, the RAs set a time and date that would be most convenient for the RCs-i.e. a time period when most of the students would be in their rooms so that they could meet their RAs. Then, the RAs would take from half an hour to an hour to visit their student’s rooms, often bringing some snacks as well. The students and RAs would be able to talk about what’s going on in their personal life. This time gives the RAs an opportunity to understand the academic and personal ordeals that the students may be going through and to provide them with some good solutions. Moreover, the personal relationship between the students and the RAs can also be deepened, which allows the students to communicate with their RAs with an enhanced level of trust and reassurance.

   Over the semester, the RAs and their students have shared a myriad of conversations, encompassing academic worries and advice, relationship issues associated with roommates or other students, and their expectations for the rest of their freshmen year. This continuous connection between the RAs and the RC students has helped Appenzeller House to be one step closer to achieving the 5C values of the RC Education system-especially ‘Communication’.  Appenzeller House hopes to passionately encourage this connection between the RAs and the RC students to truly embody the 5C values of RC education in Appenzeller House.

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