By Daniel Clarke
Senior Reporter
The Office of Residence Life announced Gabrielle Bamberski (University Court 8) as their August RA of the Month.
Elected for going above and beyond the call of duty in providing outstanding service to her residents and excelling as a member of the Office of Residence Life team, The Equinox tried to get to know her better and talk to her about the achievement.
Academically, Bamberski is a Criminal Justice major in her 4th year, anticipating her bachelor’s degree at the end of this year. She plans to finish her master’s through FDU’s combined degree program next year.
Originally enrolled at the University of New Haven, Bamberski chose FDU instead as a better match and hasn’t regretted her decision.
Bamberski has been very involved on campus. Working with Student Life since her sophomore year, she’s been involved in a number of student life committees, is in AEPhi, president of Fashion Corps, and is an outstanding RA.
“Sometimes when people think of an RA, they think they’re the disciplinary,” Bamberski said. “But a lot of times I play a lot of different roles, like a role model or just a friend support system.”
When asked why she chose to become an RA, Bamberski said that she had a hard time despite having two very good RAs.
“I know I had a hard time my first semester, so I wanted to make sure that students that are coming here have a good support system,” said Bamberski. “I feel like if I got involved, I’d be able to help others out as well.”
The Equinox asked if she felt that she was able to accomplish that, and while she hasn’t been an RA long and she’s not responsible for returning students, she still feels that to some extent she is accomplishing that goal by being part of the student life as an RA.
In terms of expectations and reality, Bamberski found that being an RA was almost exactly what she had expected, except for the amount of students in her Linden, which was less than she expected. But she’s glad because it allows her to better get to know her students.
“The work that you have to put in, the energy, all exactly what I expected, and I really enjoy it too,” said Bamberski. “I like the work, I like everything that I have to do for it; it can be a little stressful at times, sure, but any job is.”
The Equinox asked about the difficulty of the RA application process. While it was nerve-wracking waiting for Student Life’s response, she didn’t find the process particularly difficult.
Though August is just a week of the semester for many students, RAs were here weeks before then going through training and helping certain students move in early.
Bamberski was asked what she felt made her stand out above the rest.
“A lot of the RAs this year are new so we were all kind of in the same boat,” said Bamberski. “I feel like I showed a good support throughout the training processes and then also the first week there were a few bumps that I think I handled well.”
She attributes being in her sorority for preparing her well for being an RA. Both with helping her connect with her residents and with improving her leadership skills.
“I think student life does a lot. I know things can be difficult because we’re a small school so funding is a little bit hard. But they do try their best,” Bamberski said.
