Jennifer Martin

CAS100A- Section #207

 

I. Attention Getter: Adam Sandler, Hillary Clinton, Wesley Snipes and Katie Couric were all RA’s. (3)

 

II. Audience Adaptation: Because it’s a requirement for all freshmen to live on campus, each one of us has personal experience with their RA.

 

III. Credibility statement: Along with my personal relationship with my RA, I conducted some research and did an interview to learn more.

 

IV. Thesis: Although commonly seen as an enemy, an RA in fact is a very valuable resource to both their residents and the university.

 

V. The relationship between the RA’s, students and the school is very give and take.

a. RA’s have to make sure the experience of their residents is a positive one.

b. Without the RA staff, the campus would not be as safe.

c. Although, a job as an RA means you have to be on the job all the time, there are still many personal benefits.

 

Transition: Without RA’s how would living in dorms be different for the students?

 

I. Residence assistants make sure the living experience is a positive one for residents.

 

a. They make informative and interesting bulletin boards. (1)

b. They come up with ice breakers for the freshman to get oriented. (1)

c. They make nametags for all the doors. (1)

i. Creating a sense of home is very important. (2)

d. They plan and run social events so residents can get to know each other. (1)

i. There is a large focus on social and community development. (2)

ii. Examples include the ball as well as movie nights. (3)

e. RA’s help to minimize conflict in the students’ lives. (3)

i. They will be a mediator for roommate conflict. (3)

ii. They are trained to deal with drug abuse and depression. (3)

 

Transition: You also have the opportunity to be an RA yourself.

 

II. There are many benefits to being a RA.

 

a. Being an RA is very impressive.

b. It looks good on resumes. (4)

i. They also receive free room and board as well as a bonus paycheck if there is still enough money in the budget. (5)

c. “Living on campus you will be given numerous opportunities to grow intellectually and emotionally as well as develop relationships with individuals from a variety of backgrounds.” (4)

d. Becoming an RA is a very selective process. (5)

i. Jenny leaned about the opportunity reading the Stall Stories. (5)

ii. The process is as follows: to become an RA you first have to go to an information session, you receive an application that then must be filled out. If you are accepted then you must go through and interview process. If accepted again, you must take a class called counselor ed 302. You must receive at least a B in the class and then get a recommendation from the instructor. (5)

e. There are many duties that residents do not always notice.

i. The RA’s hold super group meetings weekly with all the RA that are in the building. (5)

ii. They must fill out a GYST (get your stuff together) book daily. (5)

f. The best part of the job is meeting the other resident life staff according to Jenny. (5)

g. You also meet many interesting and different people. (5)

h. Being an RA is very time consuming. (5)

 

Transition: If the students are happy then the school will run much more efficiently.

 

III. RA’s are valuable to the smooth running of Penn State’s residential life.

 

a. RA’s receive training in crisis management, negotiating and advocacy, advertising, time management and icebreakers. (3)

b. One duty is to report maintenance problems so things run smoothly. (3)

 

Transition: Overall, RA’s are an integral part to the Penn State community.

 

 

I. The RA’s are human too and want only the best for residents.

 

II. Both the students and the college benefit.

 

III. So appreciate your RA and say hi next time you see them!

 

 

Works Cited

1) ResidentAssistant.org. Retrieved July 17^th, 2007 from www.residentassistant.org/default.aspx?viewcat=30

2) ResidentAssistnat.com. Retrieved July 17^th, 2007 from www.residentassistant.com/blog/index.php

4) Res Life. Retreived July 17^th, 2007 from http://www.reslife.net/html/assistant.html

5) Interview with my resident assistant Jenny Traub

 

Jen - Your outline is very well organized and easy to follow. However, your transitions could be stronger. Great job and good luck tomorrow! - Ryan Aukerman

 

Jen - I love the attention-getter. This topic is great and I look forward to hear you speak. The speech is very well organized and the fact that you interviewed an RA shows that you truly cared about this topic. Good job. - Jesse

 

I really liked the attention getter I never would have expected those people to be RA's. I'm really excited to hear how the speech flows out loud. Good luck tomorrow!- Lauren Grimes

 

Jen, you presented your speech very well today. The attention grabber was very effective and caught the attention of everyone in the room. I felt like some main points in the speech ran together, but other than that it was a good job! - Alan

Jen- you did such a good job today!!! the speech was well put together but some of the points could have been a little clearer. good job!-Kara

Jen: You're speech was good. You used good voice inflections and had a clear speaking voice. Next time work on the overall flow a bit more..some things ran together. Otherwise, great job! -Katie