As this website has already discussed at length, one’s battle with student loans often begins before a person graduates from school. Indeed, choices people make while in school can greatly impact the amount of debt individuals have to pay back once they graduate. As previously mentioned, I worked a variety of jobs during college and law school to help reduce the amount of student loans I had to borrow. As my experiences show, being a resident advisor to help with student loans is doable in a variety of circumstances.
As many people know, a resident advisor is someone who lives with on-campus residents and makes sure that residents follow the policies of the school. In exchange, resident advisors usually receive free housing and sometimes, free meal plans and a stipend. While in college, I was able to secure financial aid to cover most of my educational expenses. However, I still needed to cover housing expenses, and I thought that being a resident advisor to help with student loans would be a good idea.
I didn’t really hear about resident advisor positions until later in my college career. Indeed, I spent the first two years of college in on-campus housing, and I paid an insane amount of money to live in the dorms. I saw some signs around campus about applying for a resident advisor position, and I decided to submit an application so that I could help reduce my housing costs in college.
At first, I applied to be a resident advisor for a position that opened during the middle of the year. There was only one open position and tons of applicants, so I did not end up receiving the job. However, being a resident advisor to help with student loans was a huge goal of mine, so I applied again for a full-year position at the next opportunity.
The application process to be a resident advisor was pretty intense. I needed to collect recommendations from around campus to support my application, and I needed to write a number of personal statements. The interview process was also intense, since I was interviewed individually, and had to participate in group activities to make sure I was a good fit for the position. I was eventually hired as a resident advisor, and I ended up spending two full years in this position as an undergraduate.
Being a resident advisor to help with student loans definitely had a positive impact on my college experience. All of the resident advisors at my college received substantial training prior to assuming our roles. This training included conflict resolution training, de-escalation training, and other classes. In addition, all of the resident advisors got to travel back to school a few weeks before everyone else, and it was awesome being on campus early with the other resident advisors. In addition, it was fun living with freshmen as a resident advisor and meeting more people on campus than would be possible if I wasn’t a resident advisor.
Some might be wary of becoming resident advisors because they might be scared that the position will affect ones studies. Indeed, resident advisors often have to spend hours each week organizing hall programs, conducting community tours, counseling residents, and performing other tasks. This could conceivably take time away from studies, which could impact your grades. Of course, undergraduate grades are important to securing financial aid in graduate school, so many may fear that being a resident advisor to help with student loans can actually negatively impact one’s ability to pay off student loans.
From my own experiences, however, becoming a resident advisor did not impact my studies. Working as a resident advisor was no different than participating in a club or other activity on campus. In addition, it is sometimes good to have obligations in college other than academics. It is pretty easy to get distracted as a college student, and if you have too much free time, you might be less committed to your studies. However, if you have less time to spare, you might become more focused, and this could have a positive impact on your studies.
Being a resident advisor to help with student loans is a great financial decision. I estimate that I saved around $20,000 in housing costs because I received free housing in connection with my resident advisor role. Of course, I could have saved money by living off-campus, but I wanted to live on campus so I did not need to waste time traveling to and from campus for classes and activities. In addition, living on campus ensured that I did not need to clean as much and had other conveniences available to people who lived on campus.
Of course, in actuality, I saved more than $20,000 by becoming a resident advisor. Indeed, if I had borrowed an additional $20,000 to attend college, I would have had to pay interest on that sum over the course of my student debt repayment saga. Interest payments make reducing expenses as a college student extremely important, and being a resident advisor to help with student loans can help achieve this goal.
In the end, becoming a resident advisor is an excellent way to save money as a college student. In addition, assuming this role can also improve your college experience and make you more focused on your studies. Furthermore, not only will being a resident advsor to help with student loans reduce your debt burden in the short term, but this will decrease the amount of interest you pay in the long run as well.