STUDENT. STAFF. ORIENTATION.
Let me take you on my SSO journey. It’s 2 weeks before residents move in and LaFollette was looking oh so empty and bare, but alas the B/C staff arrived. At the time we were no more than 8 strangers picked to live in a building and work together for 9 months. Little did we know the adventure we were about to embark on. The first day of SSO was filled with greetings, schedules and $300 worth of food. #reslife
The days after were filled with informative sessions, team building activities, demonstrations, ice breakers, volunteerism and ….. BCD’s. During SSO all the incoming RAs, CAs and MAs come together for an intensive training to prepare us for the upcoming year. We learn about circuit breakers *off and on and off and on*. We burnt marijuana. We Mocked and we Rocked. But most importantly, we bonded. We got to know our fellow staff members and we had the opportunity to learned together. We got to serve the Muncie community alongside our friends. We stayed up until 2 am practicing duty rounds and learning how to fill out paperwork. We lived in a ghost town and ran up and down the hallways hanging up 60+ door-decs with band aids covering our hands from hours of hot glue torture. We stared down the ever daunting empty bulletin board awaiting our victory. During these two weeks you became an RA. You became a student staff member.
dun dun dunnnn……
BCD’s
BCD’s or Behind Closed Doors are a first year RA’s best friend and worst enemy. BCD’s are simulations during which returning RAs act out situations as residents and first year RAs act out as if they were the RA. During this time you are putting everything you learned in SSO into actual practice. BCD’s cover everything. There are situations regarding: alcohol violation, marijuana violation, tobacco violation, noise violation, homesickness, roommate conflicts, conflicts of values, unconscious resident, suicide ideation, fire, inter-relationship violence, and many more. All of these situations are very common is residence halls and handling them are apart of the RA role. It is a nerve-wracking time. The RA who is participating in the BCD gets barely any background information. Basically you walk into a situation completely blind, which is what happens in real life. It may seem silly to see fellow staff members acting out these situations, but it is anything but funny. The returners take it very seriously and so do the first years. Not only are you acting out these situations, but you have an audience. Each room has two Hall Directors who are evaluating you, the returning RAs are also evaluating you, and fellow first year RAs are there watching. At the end of your situation, constructive criticism is given. While BCD’s are extremely stressful, they are also the most beneficial part of SSO. During this time you got to practice handling a variety of situations. In BCD’s it’s okay to mess up, it’s a learning experience. Sitting in lectures and discussions are helpful but until you can put that knowledge to work, it doesn’t matter.
SSO as a whole is very long, exhausting, stressful and so very amazing. It is the first time that the opportunity arises to bond with your staff. After SSO you become part of a staff. You become an RA. You become Beyonce.
Behind Closed Doors 
