RA - Resident Assistant

We provide daily life support and put on events for the students living in AP House, the APU dormitory. Support such as teaching them about how to separate their garbage correctly. People in Japan nonchalantly separate their garbage every day, but there are many rules to it. This is part of Japanese culture and something surprising for international students encountering it for the first time. I think by living together in AP House, we can learn about each other’s cultures and have a real international exchange. Our role is to make sure the students who spend one year in AP House will be able to lead their daily lives in a fulfilling way even after they leave.

Since the residents live in AP House for one year, we want them to make many friends and make the most out of their AP House life. So we try to do whatever we can as RAs to make that happen. We organize events such as a world festival, a soccer AP House Cup, and many others. The attendance at these events can get up to 1,200 people. When it comes to events with food, what people can and cannot eat differs from countries and cultures. We do our best to pay attention to those sorts of details and create an environment in which all the participants can relax and have fun. Of course, even in everyday life, we get along well with our residents. We cook together and travel together. We have fun and are close to our floormates.

I think by trying to help the residents lead a fulfilling life in the dormitory I naturally developed English language and presentation skills, as well as a sense of responsibility. I have a sense of accomplishment when I see my residents smiling because of something I did. Also, by getting closer with the other RAs, I began to feel a sense of accomplishment rather than feeling busy. These are things I could not learn in a university lecture, and I think experiencing them has enabled me to grow as a person.