“When you feel like a tiny fish in this giant pond called UT, at the very least you can know that your RA is there for you, checking on you, and congratulating you on the big and the little milestones.”
That was the attitude Cobi Genna applied to being a resident assistant (RA), and she carried the same perspective through several roles within University Housing.
Genna began working in University Housing in the fall of 2019 during her freshman year. A close family friend had worked in housing before and helped her make a connection to an open position. Genna worked the front desk of the main University Housing office located in Magnolia Hall. 
Additionally, Genna also became involved as a resident in Hess Hall her freshman year. Serving as president of the Hess Hall Council, she planned educational and social experiences for the entire hall, working with RAs to coordinate 2–3 social and educational events each month. Proudly, Genna recalls that the Hess Hall Council was awarded the most spirited so many weeks in a row that United Residence Halls Council removed the award altogether.
In the spring of 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Genna continued her work with the department in the housing call center, a 24-hour response team run completely by undergraduates who coordinated emergency maintenance and housekeeping.
The pandemic meant an incredible shift in operations for this team. While University Housing continued work as an emergency services unit, the call center shifted to support emergency housing for students with COVID-19 to help meet UT’s isolation protocols. Part of the new responsibility was to inventory and identify available beds on campus to support students in need.
“It was a very stressful time, so naturally deep and intimate connections were created within the undergraduate staff and with housing leadership,” adds Genna. At the end of her freshman year, Genna applied to be a resident assistant and continue her work with housing.
“At the call center, I had a lot of interaction with hall directors and housing leadership,” says Genna. “The first activity for RA applicants was a meet and greet, but I already had relationships with so many of those leaders. I just got to put faces to names and voices I had heard over the phone.”
Genna joined the RA team in Robinson Hall and continued to serve there as an RA through the rest of her undergraduate career, graduating in spring 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in geology and environmental studies. She also continued working at the call center as well, being promoted to student director after two years.
In Robinson Hall, she served as the hall council liaison, assisting the hall council with their programming and advising them on any potential issues. Pandemic-related challenges continued while she was an RA, but she worked diligently to help students remain connected to one another.
Genna shares that social media also helped her create connections with students. She would encourage students by commenting on posts or message them to say how proud she was of them.
“I wanted to be there for my students. I’ll walk with you to events or to the dining hall so that you don’t have to go alone. I’ll step in and make sure that you see that the things you’re interested in are important,” says Genna. “I would say to my students, ‘You have the choice to become your own person here. How can I help you do that?’”
Genna also joined the National Residence Hall Honorary and attended three national conferences, four regional conferences, and two state conferences through that involvement. While at these events, she also presented on various topics, like inclusive programming to include residents of all ability levels, models for RAs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and navigating conflict and difficult conversations as a campus leader. These conference opportunities provided space for Genna to network with housing leaders from across the US but also provided critical learning components.
“I started learning how people like to be recognized and how I as a leader can recognize my staff to make them feel seen, valued, and understood,” says Genna. “I want them to feel like they’re part of a shared vision. And not only staff, but residents—I wanted to make residents feel like they’re part of the floor and they have a place at the university.”
Genna is currently pursuing a master’s in education through UT, with plans to graduate in spring 2024. Cobi says that the two biggest takeaways from her experiences with housing are leadership skills and the ability to create meaningful recognition for others.
She notes that it’s nearly impossible for students serving as RAs to leave that experience without increasing their ability to lead others. University Housing does a great job of putting RAs in positions of leadership, building them up, and helping them find what kind of leader they are.
Through University Housing’s culture of celebrating staff, Genna also learned ways to see when recognition wasn’t appreciated and identify ways to fix that in order to help staff know that they are valued.
From working the front desk to managing the call center and serving as an RA, University Housing roles elevated Genna’s natural leadership skills and sharpened her abilities in many areas. Now, she feels confident in helping multiple team members coordinate. She’s able to communicate effectively and change communication tactics based on specified goals, the severity of the situation, and what is needed from each person involved.
“Without a doubt, I can say that working in housing and all the positions I had has completely changed who I am,” adds Genna. “The ability to interact with so many different types of people in so many different capacities, being able to coordinate skills from so many different areas and synthesize that information to create a shared vision is a skill I will carry forward for my entire career. Now as I step into teaching, I know from my years of experience with housing that those are areas I’m strong in.”