Interpersonal Relationships
1. Promote dialogue among people with multiple viewpoints
Working in the Residence Halls allows me to build unique relationships with college students. We talk about everything from schoolwork, high school days, campus involvement, sports, and life in general. This picture is the front desk inside my building where a lot of these conversations take place. Many of these students feel differently about who the best player in the NBA or NFL is, or what college subject is the toughest. I always like to ask questions to the students to start friendly debate not only to build community, but to also develop the communication skills of the students.
2. Contribute to collaborative decision making
In my College Environments class I along with two other classmates had to create a program that would foster student success. We worked together to decide which direction we wanted the project go in and created a plan to reach our goal. While working on this project we assigned certain roles of the project to a specific person and when each person finished their assignment, we collaborated together so each person was on the same page during the class presentation.
3. Solve problems in relationships
Having a roommate can be quite an adjustment for college students. Although it does not happen often, roommate conflicts do occur in the residence halls. Below is Roommate Contract that every resident must sign and if conflict does occur I, along with my RA's bring out the contract to speak with the residents about what they agreed upon at the beginning of the year. If issues still occur and become uncomfortable for a resident I administratively move one of the residents to another room.
4. Take another person's perspective
Working with the football players during my Immersion project for my Multiculturalism class really helped me understand what college athletes go through during their college career. This assignment allowed me to literally walk in their shoes and have real conversations about what they go through on a daily bases. I also thought athletes were spoiled and treated special, but I learned that although it looks and sounds fun on Saturday's, their jobs are really tough.
5. Work with someone on technology based project or manage a technology
based project with a group
In my Overview of Higher Education class I had to work with a classmate make a presentation to the class online about the chapters we were assigned to read that week. My partner and I even met in person to create the PowerPoint and work on the presentation. This entire project could not have been completed without using technology and effective communication. We had to make sure we communicated with each other as well as the professor in order to make sure we had done everything required of us.