May 15, 2024
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio Olyvia Bittner is serving as a Resident Assistant (RA) at Shawnee State University. Majoring in Accounting, Bittner balances her schoolwork with assisting her residents living within the university’s Housing & Residence Life apartment units.
In their role, RAs work with residents living on campus to help students with any challenges or issues they may encounter in daily campus living. They serve as mediators, problem-solvers, and mentors to students, while also planning events for their building units and promoting campus events and resources to the residential community.
“My freshman year I did hardly anything on campus,” Bittner said. “I just hung out with a small friend group.”
Deciding to become more involved on campus, Bittner applied to become an RA to connect with more students and serve as a leader on campus.
“I just want to bring joy to people and make sure they enjoy their time here,” she said.
Helping students feel comfortable and enjoy campus is Bittner’s main goal. Navigating student issues, roommate conflicts, or other serious matters can be tricky for RAs to handle but through trainings and assistance with Residence Coordinators in Housing & Residence Life, Bittner has felt her management and leadership skills have become stronger throughout her year as an RA.
To learn more about Resident Assistants at Shawnee State University, visit shawnee.edu/housing.