Danica the Resident Assistant

I'm Danica Hu and have been a three year RA in one of Southern California's largest public universities. I'll quickly and informally post a few of my favorite moments throughout (just so I can look back some day). Feel free to look around!

[danicathera]

These are a few group photos of my H Building programs from the 15′-16′ school year. 

I cannot emphasize enough that I find such joy when any resident attends my programs. About 40-60 attend each one. Programs are not mandatory so when they show up, they freely choose to come. Residents don’t have to even acknowledge me...but they do and more. I feel blessed my residents accept me, want to learn from me, share their stories and life with me, and attend all my dozens and dozens of programs out of pure pleasure. They understand I have a life outside this job and respect that, respect me, respect when I need space. It’s the time I do spend with them (during my programs or short times I am free) that is intentional, meaningful, life-giving. I couldn’t be more grateful. It is such a privilege to have built this amazing community.

I wrote the very last post on my wizardscanthang Instagram page, 

“H building is now just a memory- of laughter, of the unforgettable quote walls, of working out together, of studying, of late late nights of who knows what...All of you are undeniably amazing in your own way and that (forever) makes Hogwarts the best building. You all have conquered the two semesters and grown immensely. Thank you for being you. Thank you for the incredible school year. Thank you for being a part of this family. The pleasure was ours. Please keep in touch. We treasured every moment. We are excited to see where life takes you. Wherever you end up, we will always be here for you. We love you! 

Love, Danica and Sam”

I truly feel like I maximized my time here. I’m forever thankful.

[danicathera]

I have been given these two awards at the RA Banquet and I couldn’t be more proud. This means so much. I can’t believe this journey is at its end.

My job has made me feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. It’s exhausting but truly life-giving. I put my heart into programming and empowering my residents. I can’t believe my bosses and staff have seen and recognized me for it. For three years, no day has been the same. I never really even use the term “coworkers”. I don’t separate them from my life because they’re a significant part of my life. They’re my friends, my people. I have been able to create a community filled with the best 100 diverse undergrads I could’ve ever asked for. I formulate and execute events almost every week on topics I am passionate about. For three years, I have encountered countless situations and never stopped growing, never stopped being challenged. I am forever grateful for everyone who embraced me in my entirety, who validated my experiences, who shared their souls with me, who kept me grounded. 

I am so happy. 

[danicathera]

Women of CSULB. 167 likes · 1 talking about this. Your Strong Woman Crushes Everyday from California State University Long Beach that will excel in the...

Hey it’s me on Women of CSULB! (Click the link above)

[danicathera]

The First Annual Wake Up Conference 

I created the design! This entire conference is one of my most proud accomplishments. 

I was on the committee of seven other staff members who are passionate about social justice. We voluntarily and successfully made this from scratch! The process of planning and executing each segment (ethnicity vs culture, representation, awareness and privilege, identity, language and labeling, etc) excited me. Our purpose was to empower and educate any residents who wished to “wake up”. (Apparently I had the most residents from my building attend.)

I can’t believe this was merely an idea during Winter Training and it unraveled right before my eyes! 

[danicathera]

This is the best flyer (and one of the most creative programs) I have ever made. 

These were a few buttons I personally made when practicing using the button maker for the event. In the end of the program, I literally ran out of the 100+ buttons I purchased!! Everyone really really liked it.

[danicathera]

Sam Smith is my H building partner, sweet sassy soulful sister, and 6:45 am gym buddy. (Picture: during our 2nd hike at Laguna, California)

I appreciate the countless talks, study sessions, killer ab workouts, and how we fully support one another in every event (that’s over three dozen events we’ve worked our asses off on up to this point!). I’m unbelievably proud of how much she’s grown- job and human wise. I am so thankful for her, for loving me in my entirety especially when I’m at my lowest. The world needs more people like her!

My all time favorite program was her Valentine’s for Veterans program. She passed out a Love Language Quiz and everyone discovered their top love languages. Before that, she played a video on each of the love languages. Most residents including myself, had quality time and words of affirmation.

After, everyone crafted Valentine’s cards for veterans at a hospital near campus. Sam grabbed colored and beautifully designed card stock, stickers, scissors, tape, and other supplies from the service center office closet. Our residents excitedly decorated cards that said “I appreciate you”, “Thank you for your service”, “You are loved”, and “Happy Valentine’s day”.

That Saturday, Sam and I walked to the hospital to individually and personally deliver the piles (100+) of cards to the injured veterans. I loved every encounter. I loved the way their faces lit up. I noticed a consistency: most would lie on their long hospital beds in their bland gowns matching the blank cream walls surrounding them, with television screens glued to their noses. The veterans definitely deserve more love than these Valentine’s but I was grateful to be in their midst and see their genuine smiles. The veterans’ and nurses’ joy touched my soul.

[danicathera]

This calendar is next to my room. It has all the building’s events and campus wide events updated per month by yours truly. There are 6 more weeks of school!! There are 6 more weeks of being an RA!!

[onlinecounsellingcollege]

Attention is the purest form of generosity.

Unknown (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

[danicathera]

Every year, we have RA superlatives (awards given by the Residential and Housing Department) and since a few RA’s were in charge of helping with the process, I created this design. 

[danicathera]

night skating along the beach pathway with Blessie

[danicathera]

I designed our shirt this year!

[danicathera]

my Netflix & Chili program: a fun, engaging, and highly informative sex ed program

• provided baked potatoes & veggie chili 

• educational sex bingo ft. condoms as the placeholders 

 • the condom game: we had two teams of two (so four volunteers) where person A put a condom on the cucumber and person B took off the condom; then we told them whoever completed the task the fastest would win; the catch: the condoms had holes in it so no one won; then Destinee step-by-step conducted a tutorial on how to safely put on/off a condom, where to store condoms safely, and other useful tips

• 5 hot topics eg. the pull out method, anal, queefing 

• anonymous questions on post it notes placed in a bin and Destinee answered them all at the end

• my boss Destinee (a professional health education) helped lead this program with me and answered all the post it note questions

[danicathera]

This was a little bit of today’s spring break shift.

[danicathera]

My absolute favorite most meaningful and thought provoking event ever: Pizza & Privilege night. 

The plethora of inequalities (and global systematic corruptions) affect me deeply- to my very core. I possess this passion for loving people and innate desire for people to be understood, treated, and seen as the humans beings they are. So, much of my heart went into the making of my event tonight. I led a multitude of activities and conversations revolving around the topic of privilege. Words could not describe how moved I was to witness my diverse undergrad residents actively engaged, challenged, "awoken", and empowered to be advocates of equality. Here, work isn't work. My soul feels right. Thank you Juan for your articulate wisdom and incredibly raw insight. Thank you Samantha for your constant support in my events (not just today's but every single one I've had throughout the year). Thank you Ebony and Stephanie for openly and courageously sharing your experiences.

The picture on the left is the flyer I created. The picture on the right was a poster I made for the common room. 

My event was as follows: Diversity Quiz, Privilege Laundry Bin (goals/post-it notes/shoot from standing), definition of privilege, Privilege Walk, and open discussion.

[danicathera]

Follow parksidecollege on Instagram!!!

[danicathera]

a snippet of my Resume 101 program ft. 2 awesome resources from the career development center

I created this entire workshop today and I’m happy. My soul feels right. I created the presentation slides and worksheets from scratch twice because the hard drive from my PC crashed and all my work/files vanished. I worked relentlessly to get it done. So it felt nice to have everything fall into place. At the end of my program, Paula the residential academic mentor in Parkside said this was the best academic event she’s seen. 

(The left gif is of my residents a few hours after the program trying to create and edit their resumes.)

[danicathera]

Austin (my resident) taught me how to make space art