Life as a Resident Assistant

After spending the whole 2000-2001 school year as an RA at Michigan Tech, I realized that no one should ever be bored. In fact, if there is any place in the world as isolated as Michigan Tech, I'd be very surprised. This compilation of interesting situations I've been fortunate enough to observe in the past year illustrates the fact that even students at MTU can find something to do...


  • Discovered dead rodent in washing machine at the end of orientation week.

  • Found 4 couples listening to loud music in one dorm room with no lights on at the end of orientation week.

  • "Do you know where I can get 3 Tablespoons of white vinegar?"
    -Freshman, end of 2nd week.

  • Observed guy dancing on his bed to the tune of a 'fur Elise' remix.

  • I came back from a hard night in the lab to find a math problem written on the white board of my room. Engineers are weird.
    -3rd week

  • Tin foil laundry basket covering a speaker on someone's floor.
    -4th week

  • Bike wedged in the garbage room, touching all 4 walls, blocking the door and the garbage chute. Four people spent 2 1/2 hours trying to get it out, starting at 8:00 pm. The bike was finally removed by the custodian the next morning. How? He drafted a 230 lb student security worker to help him push on the door till the bike moved enough so that he could get his arm in there. No bikes were injured in the process.
    -September 25th-26th

  • A room in West McNair caught on fire. It takes the fire dpt 1 hr 45 min to stop it and clear the smoke.
    -September 27th

  • Win bed race and chug-a-lug at the homecoming games. Our chem-free hall won the 4-man chug-a-lug relay with a time of 42 seconds. The fastest frat won with a time of 54. Who needs practice when you're the best already?
    -October 6th

  • Clothes found folded in the laundry room--someone's being nice.
    -October 9th

  • Residents trying to bait passersby with candy corn in the hallway. When the victim fell for the bait, they would pummel him with stress-reliever mini-earths.
    -October 20th

  • Someone put a box of laundry detergent (yes, the box) in the washing machine, and ran it through all the cycles. It looked like paper mache.
    -November 6th

  • Residents finished installing full size air hockey table in their 10'6" by 17'6" room.
    -November 29th

  • Residents having a 10-man wrestling fest outside my room door. One guy was spun around 20 times. We know, cause 3 more were counting the rotations before I opened the door. I was a good RA, honest!
    -December 3rd, Midnight

  • Met someone walking outside in shorts and flip-flops. Windchill = -34 degrees F.
    -February 20th, 11:00 pm

  • I asked Gary to turn his music down. Gary is a plastic dummy.
    -February 24th, 2:10 am

  • Found goldfish in toilet, some I-house guy managed to swallow one and ralph it back up again, alive.
    -April 8th, 11:00 pm

  • Traumitized goldfish is still alive, but no longer in toilet.
    -April 11th, 10:00 pm

  • Goldfish is still alive.
    -May 9th


[Home][Back][Webmaster]


This page was last updated October 28, 2001.
© Copyright 2001, Andrew Fredman