ROME, Oct 2 - Not a native Roman? Living in a new and strange environment? Is your neighbor
always waving their hands and yelling to you in Italian?
Students
living in John Cabot University-assigned housing will still have to deal with these dilemmas, but help is on the way. A new addition has been made to the JCU housing department this semester: resident assistants, or RAs, have been assigned to every JCU apartment.
Aliki Karagiannis, Housing Associate and now senior resident assistant, leads a group of five JCU degree-seeking students as the first group of RAs.
The new RA program
has been implemented to help the students, landlords and JCU. The RA's job is to check on students in their district, and
to make sure they are comfortable in their new surroundings. The
RAs must also do inspections of the apartment to examine for property
damage.
Every weekend at least two
RAs are on call in Rome to help out with any housing emergencies.
If a student is having a simple problem, such as an electrical outage
or a more serious situation, such as an angry neighbor scolding you
in Italian, the RAs are ready and able to help diffuse the problem.
In the future, the RAs are planning to organize an activities calendar. Eventually, the idea is to get apartment buildings together for small social outings such as a foosball tournament (calcetto/biliardino) or a gelato tour, events to get to know one another and other parts of Rome.
The RA program's aim is to make the transition of living in JCU housing more comfortable for everyone involved.
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