Associate directer of Residence Life and current RA how to become an RA

Liberty University’s Resident Assistant (RA) program was created to be a ministry where students who serve as RAs can learn more about themselves while helping students who live on campus.   

Associate Director of Residence Life Justin Speck has been serving in his position for one year. Prior to being the associate director, Speck was a Resident Director (RD) for three years. He also attended Liberty and served as an RA on East Campus for three years.

“The change that happens during college years is crucial,” Speck said. “It sets the
trajectory of affirming beliefs and figuring out what it is you want to do with your life.”

Speck said this importance inspired him to want to work with college students. 

“Because of how high-impact it is, I have targeted this demographic of people to want to invest in and to pour into,” Speck said. 

Bridgett Ann Sanchez is pursuing a graduate degree in social work and has been serving as an RA at the Square for three years. Sanchez details the process of becoming an RA as an extensive system that is constantly improving and changing. 

“It’s never the same each year,” Sanchez said. “They are always trying to revise it and make it better.” 

The RA application process allows students to see who they are and where their specific skills can contribute to the betterment of campus life. 

“You can actually see a student’s skills and just who they really are,” Sanchez said. “I think that’s really important about the application process. There’s no RA mold that you have to fit. It’s very much, ‘Who are you, and what can you bring to this team?’” 

The process encourages all different personality types.

“We want you to be different,” Sanchez said. “We want you to be an introvert. We want you to be an extrovert.” 

The RA application process spans three phases. 

“The first is you submit an application where it just asks in-depth questions about your testimony, your beliefs and your skills,” Sanchez said. “Then if you pass that round, you interview with two RDs around campus. It’s just an interview where they get to know what they read on paper in person.” 

The final round has applicants partner with current RAs for a week known as “Experience Week.”

“(Applicants) get to try Convo; they get to go to a hall dinner; they get to interact with students on the hall,” Sanchez said. “They go through a few different workshops.”

According to Sanchez, the process is not easy, but it is well worth it. 

“It is definitely tiring and draining, but you learn so much about yourself whether or not you get the role,” Sanchez said. “We end with a feedback room where we get to talk about what you did well and where you can grow. … It’s a heavy week, but not everything heavy is bad.” 

“Expect to learn about yourself whether or not you get the position,” Speck said. 

RA Connect classes are another vital component to the program after a student becomes an RA. 

“One of the primary goals for RA Connect is for RAs across campus to be able to connect with each other in one space,” Speck said. “It gives a chance for RAs to meet other RAs and bring those diverse experiences to one table to discuss, to build relationships additional to the curriculum that we developed.”

There are 12 RA competencies that are specifically targeted. 

“We take those and scatter them across the year and develop the RAs in those competencies,” Speck said. “In the second year of RA Connect, we mature the curriculum and discuss more spiritual topics like evangelism and discipleship.” 

Instead of participating in RA Connect, third year RAs partake in a book club led by the senior Resident Directors, and the fourth year RAs serve on different committees of Residence Life alongside the RDs.

Sanchez describes the RA role as being a ministry. RAs partner with Liberty’s Office of Spiritual Development and pray for students regularly. 

“RAs are poured into constantly so we can pour out onto our halls,” Sanchez said. “That 1 a.m. curfew conversation that an RA is having with a student is going to bring up the Lord.”

Students who become RAs also have the opportunity to connect with students who are not saved or have questions about the Bible. 

“Sometimes we have students who aren’t saved,” Sanchez said. “Theologically, RAs still have an opportunity to be a spiritual figure on a residence hall.” 

An RA’s primary goal at Liberty is to serve the students around them. 

“(At) a lot of universities, ‘RA’ stands for resident advisor,” Speck said. “We don’t want to lose the heart of this servant leadership, so that’s why it stays Resident Assistant. They are there to serve as an assistant would to their students.”

Speck and Sanchez both admit that seeing the students grow spiritually is a special component of the job. 

“I find a lot of encouragement from the Lord when I get to view that development,” Speck said. 

“Even though it’s hard, so much of RA is about development, professional
development, spiritual development, personal development,” Sanchez said.

With 282 current RAs and a team of 288 for next year, the RA team has the power to greatly impact students living on campus. 

“Our lives have been changed by the gospel, and so we desire other people’s lives to be changed by the gospel,” Speck said. “We hope to use our platform to do just that.” 

Sowell is a feature reporter for the Liberty Champion