This spring semester I had a terrifying experience when my roommate went home for the weekend and I was woken up at 4:00am by the carbon monoxide alarm going off in my apartment. I had absolutely no idea what to do other than get out of the apartment, but as I stood shivering outside the only thing I could think of was call the RA on duty. Not only did the RA call emergency maintenance, she had me come over and stay in her apartment until they arrived, which happened to be two hours later because it was 4:00 am and maintenance isn’t on duty. Even though it turned out that the alarm was just running low on batteries and nothing was really wrong, I was so grateful to that RA because she handled the situation with grace and empathy. I was freaking out and here was this source of compassion that put me immediately at ease. Now, I totally forgot that RA’s name because I was freaking out and exhausted at the time, but I still think about how impressive she was.
Cut to today, I am now living with an RA because I had a hard time getting university housing as a junior so my friend’s RA (NOT EVEN MINE) offered us a spot as her roommates. Alyssa, my RA and roommate, is now one of my closest friends. It is actually becoming a problem because all three of us stay up till 3:00 AM talking about everything. Alyssa was kind enough to take a chance on us because we were desperate and now I have a new best friend in life.That same offer of selflessness that the carbon monoxide RA made is what Alyssa gave to me and I will forever appreciate it.
