RA*Chat is a series of special episodes of the podcast for RA and student staff member audiences.
In this RA*Chat episode, join host Anthony to discuss the complexities of move-out season for RAs and student staff members–from juggling school and work, to being prepared and planning ahead. Guest Naomi Semb-Lovejoy shares insights on managing this hectic time while supporting yourself and others.
Guest: Naomi Semb-Lovejoy (she/her), Assistant Director for Residence Life, The University of Texas at Austin
Host: Anthony Martinez
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About ResEdChat
Roompact’s ResEdChat podcast is a platform to showcase people doing great work and talk about hot topics in residence life and college student housing. If you have a topic idea for an episode, let us know!
Transcript:
Anthony Martinez:
Welcome back to Roompact’s ResEdChat Podcast. Today is a special RA chat edition, where we talk about issues of importance to RAs, and student staff members, and housing, and Residence Life. And, today, we have a driving topic for you all that creeps up really fast, which is Move-Out. And I’m your host, Anthony Noe Martinez. And if you’re an RA, and you’re wrapping up the academic year, it isn’t just about turning in your finals and logging in damages when you’re checking out rooms. There’s a whole other layer that goes into this, and supporting our students. And you, as RAs, are also involved. And, as student workers, you are involved on campus. And with all of that, you’re juggling a bunch of other stress and obligations going on. And to help to make sense of all of this, I have an amazing guest here with me, who I’m going to let introduce themselves, and talk a little about themselves and their journey here in getting to the University of Texas at Austin. And so, Naomi, if you would like to talk a little bit about yourself.
Naomi Semb-Lovejoy:
Great. Thanks, Anthony. So, yeah, so like Anthony said, my name is Naomi Semb-Lovejoy, and my pronouns are she, her, and hers. I’m an Assistant Director for Residence Life right now at the University of Texas at Austin. I started my Residence Life journey as a Resident Assistant at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, which is where I attained my bachelor’s degree in psychology. After I got my bachelor’s degree in psychology, I moved to Warrensburg, Missouri, where I got my master’s degree in college student personnel administration from the University of Central Missouri.
After I graduated with my master’s degree, I moved to Texas, and I started as a Complex Coordinator. And I was a Complex Coordinator for three years, doing work with first year students, regular residence hall, traditional residence hall work. And then I also did a little bit of apartment work for juniors and seniors, before becoming an Assistant Director. And so, yeah, I was a Complex Coordinator for three years. And I’m in year one and a half-ish, two years, as an Assistant Director for Housing. And, now, all of the communities that I oversee are traditionally first year students, and about 2,300 of them are within my scope of work.
Anthony Martinez:
Perfect, great. Well, we’re excited to have you here today. I know I’m definitely excited to have you here today, Naomi. And I know you oversee the Transitions Committee at the University of Texas at Austin as well, which I want to talk about a little bit. Speaking of closing and moving students out, if you want to talk a little bit more about that. But if you want to address of how, during move-out, what are some ways RAs can start prepping early year, or end of year transitions? And what do transitions periods look like, especially for these students who are closing their buildings and working with their Complex Coordinators, Resident Directors, across different universities?
Naomi Semb-Lovejoy:
Yeah, no, it’s a lot, closing is a lot of work. People, if you’re not in housing, might underestimate it. You’re like, “Oh, people just move out. It’s not that big of a deal.” No, there’s a lot that goes into it because a lot of partnerships that have to be worked through. And so our student staff are really the frontline people going in and making sure that our residents know what their due diligence is for the closing process. And then, after that, it transitions into the Complex Coordinator being aware that everybody is out, moving on to building services’ facilities for maintenance issues that come up.
But there is a lot of information that we put upon our Resident Assistants, and we really hold them to a high standard to make sure that they are articulating the information correctly to our students that are moving out. And so it can be overwhelming being a student staff member during this time because, throughout the year, we put a lot of emphasis that you’re a student first and your classes come first. And then we also are like, “Here’s all this information that we need you to make sure that your other peers know, on top of studying for classes, and also preparing to move out of your room, and making plans for the summer, and getting an internship,” or whatever X, Y, and Z that might be.
And so it’s really important that, as a student staff member, you are almost looking ahead. And I think in terms of, you’re going into spring break, that’s really exciting that you get a little break. You’re going probably on a vacation with your friends or your family, or you’re just going home, or even you might just be staying, but having a week where there’s no exams, no classes, and that’s always nice. But knowing that when you come back from spring break, it kicks into gear. And so thinking about what things can you even do for yourself back in March to really prepare for closing. If there are things that you feel like your supervisors aren’t sharing with you, think about the questions that you can be asking your supervisor in a one-on-one to get some of that information ahead of time. And, also, just encourage your supervisor to think about that information ahead of time. It is a way to preserve yourself towards the end, and making sure that you are knowledgeable, and you are doing your part as a Resident Assistant.
But I think just knowing all the things that are going to get added on, the more you can work ahead, instead of just waiting for the shoe to drop in April that you do have to leave, and your students have to leave, is going to be really, really helpful. I think about things that might be helpful for you to get organized, like a task list, or a Google Calendar, or I don’t know. When I was in school it was sticky notes across my desk, and I got to rip them up and throw them away and feel really accomplished in that. I don’t know if people do that anymore. But Google Calendars, or even if you are a Microsoft Teams school, if you’re using Planner and things like that, all those things can be helpful just to keep track of your work tasks versus your homework. And I think that that’s really important is to separate those two, but then have a combined version as well, just for processing and making sure that you’re not missing anything.
Yeah, I think for a lot of student staff, though, it is also important, if you’re working at a school that doesn’t necessarily have a committee or a task force that is putting all your closing materials together, that you are relying on your peers to think ahead and process through what things might come up for you as you’re entering exam season. Because you were a student, you know what a checkout looks like. You were once somebody that had to leave the residence halls, and so reflect back on that time and put some things into practice.
Anthony Martinez:
Yeah, that’s really important to mention. I know not a lot of institutions have a Transitions Committee similar to the one that you lead, where you all create a bunch of these task lists. And you’ll provide them to the Resident Directors, Complex Coordinators. And even a task list for the Resident Assistants that’s created for the RAs, that’s provided to them of like, “Oh, this is what you need to do before you close your building and everything.” And so I really enjoyed that you mentioned looking ahead, and thinking about using, as you said, sticky notes, Google Calendar, or whatever works for you to stay organized.
And even asking your supervisors those questions of, “Hey, I’ve thought about this. Is this something that you can put on your radar? Or do you already have the answers to these items?” So, that way, those student staff members and those Resident Assistants can start thinking and asking those questions as well. Because I know, for me, as a Complex Coordinator, sometimes, with everything that’s coming my way, I’m like, “Oh, I need to get this, this and this done.” And then, all of a sudden, I may forget something. And it isn’t until a student staff member, an Assistant Director is asking me, “Hey, have you done this yet?” And it’s like, “Oh, I actually haven’t even thought about that yet.” And so making those task lists is great.
And then speaking of all these things that come in mind, I did want to ask, what are some things you would recommend to our student staff members and our Resident Assistants who are listening, who might be feeling overwhelmed with different projects that are coming their way and different move-out responsibilities?
Naomi Semb-Lovejoy:
Yeah. I think something to really remember, and take it or leave it, but it is a place of solidarity that you are not the only person navigating those challenges. There is a team that you have that can help you navigate those challenges. I think that it is part of your responsibility to stay on top of tasks, and make sure that you’re not just letting things slip through the cracks. But I also know that there’s going to be points of tension where a deadline for closing is going to be the same deadline that you have for an exam day. And so where are you showing that you’re trying to work ahead, or where are you also being really intentional to ask your peers and your supervisor for support before that miss happens? And I think that that’s really the important part is, how are you having ownership of the things that you need to do to get the job done?
And it doesn’t have to be just you getting the job done. You have a whole group that is there to help you, but they only will know that you need the help if you ask. And, also, you can’t be the team member. Well, you can, but you’re probably going to have some looks, but you can’t be the team member that’s asking for help on every single task. At a certain point, your peers are going to look at you, and they’re like, “Okay, why am I managing and you are not?” And then that may be an internal reflection that you need to have. But if you are honest with, “This is where I’m feeling tension, and I maybe have these couple solutions to help solve that tension,” hopefully, you have a team and a supervisor that is willing to engage in a conversation and mitigate that with you.
But I do think people aren’t going to know that you need help unless you ask for it. And I truly think that it’s so much better to ask for the help before you get to the end time, when it’s like, “Oh, if I don’t do it within the next hour, I’m going to miss the deadline.” Something tells me you should have known that maybe that was going to happen before the hour came up. And so I think that that’s something to be mindful of too is, where can you take maybe even 30 minutes to an hour to sit down, before you get into a week of exams, to really write down what that week is going to look like, for both school and work?
Anthony Martinez:
Yeah, no, that’s great. Yes, communication is a huge piece in a lot of this for move-out. And I know, I have the pleasure of working with Naomi at the University of Texas at Austin, and something she says is, “Be defendable.” That is a huge thing that we talk about here. And just having that communication with your supervisor so, that way, if something does come up, we’re aware. And so if student staff members are communicating with their Resident Directors, Complex Coordinators, it really helps us understand where you’re coming from when that open line of communication is there.
And on that topic, I want to see what is the best way you think that, or for RAs and student staff members, to talk about with their supervisor the end of year conflicts that they might be running into, or burnout? I know you’ve been talking about that communication piece, and then not wanting to be the person who’s always asking for help. And so what is some advice you’d give to a Resident Assistant to talk with their supervisor if they are feeling overwhelmed, that burnout? And they might be scared to so, just because they might have a lot on their plate. But, yeah, what do you think?
Naomi Semb-Lovejoy:
Yeah, I think something that I sit with frequently is that there are going to be times where it’s always going to feel like a lot on your plate, but everything on your plate can’t be your entire life. And so there has to be a moment where I’m going to take 10 minutes to myself, and that can’t be that detrimental to everything on my plate. And I think that when you’re working in Residence Life, sometimes, that 10 minutes does feel detrimental, but it doesn’t need to be. And I know that might be, “Oh, easier said than done. I do have a lot on my plate, and I need to get it all done, and I’m in classes.” Yeah, but you also are a human being. And so if you’re not taking even 10 minutes to just zone everything else out, I think you are going to end up doing more harm than good. And the things that you are trying to complete are probably not going to be completed to its fullest potential without those little breaks that you’re trying to put in.
I think the second part that you were talking about, Anthony, about approaching a supervisor, and maybe not feeling like you have the time and/or maybe not feeling as comfortable to talk to your supervisor. I do think that it doesn’t necessarily have to be your supervisor. An Assistant Director perspective is that, as long as you are talking to somebody that is helpful to you in your role, it might not always be your supervisor that you’re the most comfortable with. Maybe it’s your supervisor’s supervisor, or maybe it’s your supervisor’s peer, or maybe it’s your peer. There are things that you can do and people you can talk to navigate what having so much on your plate looks like. I think if you’re asking about an extension on a deadline, that would be odd to ask a peer and not your supervisor. But really navigating what are the things that you need right now, and then figuring out what avenues of support you can get those things from because it doesn’t always have to be your supervisor.
When I was a Resident Assistant, I did not go to my supervisor a lot. I didn’t feel comfortable going to my supervisor a lot, and it was nothing that she did. It was almost a space of I didn’t want her to know that I was struggling. So, therefore, I relied a lot on my peers, and they got me through it. But I think, to a certain extent, that also made me not feel like I got a full RA experience because I didn’t utilize my supervisor that much. So, yeah, a little bit of a twofold there, but I think there’s other avenues outside of your supervisor, if needed. You just have to think about what you need.
Anthony Martinez:
Mm-hmm. No, that’s great advice. I think it’s important to remind students, we are all student affairs professionals. And at the end of the day, we are here to support students, and we want them to be successful and to learn from their role. And at the end of the day, that’s why I’m here as a Complex Coordinator, you as an Assistant Director, we are here for the students and to support students. And so I think that’s great. I think students who feel maybe uncomfortable, as you had stated, I don’t want disappoint my supervisor, but I need to get this information to somebody to let them know I’m facing burnout and feeling stressed towards the end of the year. I think that’s great advice. Let’s start there. Can someone point you to the right direction? Can we talk to someone else? Can this person help you guide the conversation to talk with your supervisor, whoever it may be? So that’s really lovely advice. Thank you, Naomi. I appreciate that.
But going into all of the hecticness that’s going on around move-out, I wanted to ask for Resident Assistants and student workers for the end of the year. It’s getting wild and everything, lots of moving parts. What is the best way, you think, for them to reflect on their year during that hectic time? So how can they set time aside to reflect what they’ve done as a Resident Assistant? And we do have student workers who plan to return and those who don’t plan to return and graduate. And so is there any advice there that you might have for those students who are looking to have that reflection and get ready for the next year, or getting ready to graduate and move on from the university?
Naomi Semb-Lovejoy:
Yeah. Well, if you’re graduating, congrats. That’s exciting. I think reflection is super important, first of all. I think there’s a lot that we do every day that is truly more than most people get done in a day if you work in Residence Life. And those things can go a little unnoticed or unrecognized. And so it is important, as often as you can, to look back and be like, “Wait, I did do that, and that was a lot. And I handled five mediations, two programs, people were checking out. I had a one-on-one with my supervisor.” There’s a lot we do that I don’t think people sometimes recognize. So you have to be your own hype person, sometimes.
But I think, towards the end of the year, if you’re graduating, sometimes, it gets a little sad. It’s exciting knowing what you accomplished, your degree. You worked in housing, which probably had its trying times. And you’re also excited and a little nervous. Your environment is about to change. What you know day to day is going to switch over. And you’re going to be working whatever a “normal job” that is outside of school. You might be moving away from your friends. And so all those things can just cause a lot of emotions. But it is good to reflect on those things, and process that through. And, also, just be really excited for some of the things that you do get to do at the end of the year. Maybe you’re walking rooms with somebody to do a checkout, and that’s still exciting because that’s going to be maybe one of the last times you’re hanging out with that person.
And so how can you intentionally go into that time, rather than worrying about all of the other tasks? I think that intentionality with reflection is really, really important. It can be alone, it can be in a staff meeting. I also think, with reflection, sometimes, comes recognition. And so how can you also recognize the things that your peers have done throughout the year? Sometimes, starting that recognition circle is nice because then you get some stuff back that maybe you forgot that you did. But I think that there’s a lot of questions you can ask yourself. Truly, even if we all just got back to 8:00 AM this morning, we’ve probably accomplished a lot that we could reflect and recognize that, sometimes, we don’t. Because we’re like, “Oh, the day is over, and then I’m going to go to sleep and do it again tomorrow.”
But we all know that in higher ed, and Residence Life specifically as a Resident Assistant, no day is the same. So even if you can build some time in every day to write down a couple of things that you’re really proud that you accomplished, that might be really helpful as you wrap up the year.
Anthony Martinez:
Yeah, that’s great. Yes, reflection is huge. And I really enjoyed what you talked about in the role, the day is not the same. And even starting that recognition part, if you don’t have that recognition at your university, sometimes, you have to be the one to initiate it. And let your peers know like, “Hey, I saw what you did this year and it was great.” And like you said, sometimes, they’ll return the favor, and be like, “I saw what you did this year.” And you may not have realized that yourself. And so that’s really important to not only do that for yourself, but to also do that for others, come the end of the year. I did want to ask, on a wrapping up note, are there any final words of encouragement you have for our student leaders when wrapping up the academic year and ending their semester? So anything that you would suggest, leave them with, that they know?
Naomi Semb-Lovejoy:
Yeah. I think it’s just really exciting that you, as students, got through another year of academics and a job. It’s something to be really proud of yourself for, and I think that, sometimes, we just keep moving through the days and the years really quickly. But you did it and it was probably a lot of really hard stuff. I say this a lot when it comes to birthdays. I’m a big birthday person, and I feel like this is kind of the same when we get to the end of the academic year. Where I was like, when I go to birthdays, and people sometimes aren’t a birthday person, I’m like, “But the year was hard, and we did it, so we should celebrate it now because we’re going to go into another year that’s going to be fun and hard.”
And so I think, where you can, think of the things that you’re really proud of yourself for. It will be a really self-fulfilling time at the end of the year. So I’m proud of you. I might not know you, but I know that it is hard. And so I think you should be really proud of yourself for getting through a year as a Resident Assistant or a student staff member within housing, accomplishing maybe an exam you didn’t think you were going to do that well on. It’s all okay, you got through it. We’re going to close. If you’re graduating, again, congrats on graduating and moving on to the next thing. If you’re coming back, also exciting that you get to come back, and maybe mentor new staff members that are coming on to your team. And if you’re not coming back to the position too, that’s okay. There’s still a lot of things that you did this year that you should be really proud of, and so don’t let just leaving the position also hinder those accomplishments.
Anthony Martinez:
Great. Thank you. I really appreciate that, Naomi. And thank you so much for your time. Yeah, I appreciated chatting with you and having you as my first guest. And so we also want to say thank you for joining us for this episode of the ResEdChat. If you have any topics or people that you’d like us to have on the show, go on ahead and let us know on Roompact. And, again, we’ll have some more tips, and tools, and ideas, and stories coming your way. So until then, we’ll see you next time. All right.
