Ouachita Stories

I hear about once or twice a week, Oh, you’re the freshman RA!?  Ouachita has never had freshman RA’s before this year! 

The Lord says in Proverbs 3:6 that, “if I acknowledge Him, He will direct my paths.”   God continued to show Himself true to His Word this past summer. I was praying for an on-campus job and wanted to be where I could be used best, wherever that would be.

God heard my prayers about a job, and Ouachita’s ResLife answered the call. As an incoming freshman, I had no idea what being an RA would entail. However, with amazing support within the Reslife team and from the girls on my hall, I soon learned what ResLife was all about!

With that being said, I can now more clearly see what this precious responsibility entails. I acknowledge that I have gained almost 40 sisters after a semester here at Ouachita!

I have grown to understand that each resident has different needs, and I need to be ready, at any time, to minister to those specific needs.  Also, I accept the fact that I cannot always say or do the right things to make problems better, but I can always remember to point my residents to the One who can!

I cannot express the depth of the impact the residents on my hall have made in my life. My favorite experience from my first semester as an RA has been when we met in the floor lounge on my hall to share our testimonies for a devotional time. I believe the most interesting and meaningful knowledge that I can have of someone is their salvation story.

Through gaining insight into my residents’ lives, I have been able to gain insight into my own life. Living with the people you minister to, and with the people who unknowingly minister in return to you, can been a life-changing experience that I cannot imagine my life without .

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By Hannah Bunch, freshman History major