Chosen earlier than the resident advisors, the community advisors often set the stage for the upcoming year in the dorms. The CA position at Azusa Pacific “has been designed to provide a living and learning experience for the student who desires to grow in a unique manner,” according to the Residence Life Office.
Residence life requires different expectations and roles for the community advisor in comparison with a resident advisor, including assisting the residence director with the day-to-day operations of the residence hall they are assigned to, helping develop and implement social events or programs within the living area and assisting with “building community” among the residents and staff.
Furthermore, the community advisor of each residence hall oversees the Living Area Council, made up of developing freshman leaders.
Io Duvauchelle – Smith Hall
Photo credit: Kimberly Smith
“We are in charge of many things within the dorm, such as the theme for that year, and we set the mood and the direction in how the year will go in the dorm,” said junior youth ministry major Io Duvauchelle, Smith Hall’s CA for next year. “It’s like a mini-RD. Many even call the position an ‘RA to the RAs.’ I do many of the behind-the-scene things like setting up meetings with the RAs and divvying out duty times. I’m not in charge of a hall, but [of] representatives from each hall.”
Duvauchelle said his main motivation is his interest and passion for community development. He believes freshman year to be a very influential time, and hopes to make that experience a positive one for his future residents.
He is interested in being involved with residence life after he graduates, but eventually he hopes to work in different communities of people who are either underrepresented or in lower economic situations. He believes being a community advisor will provide a basic structure of how to accomplish community development.
The half-Hawaiian CA, who is known to rap from time to time, said Smith was his dream placement since he lived there his freshman year.
Duvauchelle said one goal he hopes to address is the “strong male ego” in Smith. Duvauchelle hopes to identify the students who don’t fit this mold and get cast to the “outskirts or the margins.”
“I’m excited to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable. … There are plenty of guys who fit that [stereotype], but again there are those who don’t,” Duvauchelle said. “I am excited to turn that around, not necessarily removing the stereotype from Smith but making it broader.”
Samantha Bryant – Engstrom Hall
Photo credit: Kimberly Smith
“I believe the CA is supposed to be in charge of leadership development in certain freshmen that are interested in that,” said junior business administration Samantha Bryant, Engstrom Hall’s CA next year. “I am really excited to be able to challenge some freshmen … [and] to provide a different type of experience for them as well as for myself.”
After being an RA this year, Bryant said she has noticed there are certain women on the hall who want to be challenged, and she wants to help them figure out what they want their life to look like and who they want to become.
“I’m really excited about having a small group of people that I get to work with and getting to know eight people that I get to pour into and have a blast with,” she said.
Bryant lived in Trinity Hall as a freshman and is now an RA in Adams Hall. She said she is excited about getting a chance to live in and experience Engstrom.
She said she is also excited to lead LAC because it will be a change from her current all-women living situation. And, of course, she’s looking forward to getting her own bathroom.
Melanie Hong – Adams Hall
Photo credit: Kimberly Smith
“The whole reason I signed up for the role is because I wanted to be a part of the freshmen girls’ experience,” junior math major Melanie Hong said. “I did RA this year, but I wanted to be a CA because you get to work with a small group of people, and what a CA does the most is invest into leaders.”
Hong said her biggest desire for being a CA is to foster leaders who see their positions not as roles, but opportunities to serve and a chance to bring Jesus tangibly to their halls.
“I am really looking forward to getting to know the girls well and being a part of this new phase of life for them,” Hong said.
Like Duvauchelle, Hong is finishing her educational time at APU where she began, in Adams. She said it is interesting that, as she is on the end of her journey, the freshmen will be at the beginning of their own. She is also excited to work with an all-female staff.
Hong went to South Africa for a semester and said that it helped shape many of her decisions to be in leadership. During her time there, she bungee jumped off the world’s highest bridge bungee jump site and swam with great white sharks. With a love for adventure, she said she is excited about Adams being her final one at APU as a senior next year.
“I think everything we do, if we’re doing it well, comes back to humility,” Hong said. “My hope for [the LAC’s] freshman year is that they find growth through leadership in that light.”
Micah Morris – Trinity Hall
Photo credit: Kimberly Smith
“It differs from RA in the sense of we don’t have a hall, we almost have a staff of people who have shown interest in leading … and desire to have a voice or have an opportunity to serve,” said junior psychology major Micah Morris, future CA of Trinity Hall. “CA is an opportunity to encourage those who want to be leaders and pour into people who want to make a difference on their hall.”
Morris said he is interested in the administrative side of being CA – to learn how to have efficient meetings and how to be accountable to a group of people. He said he is excited to return to Trinity after serving as RA for Second North this year, and to work with Resident Director Rachel Lincoln among a larger staff.
“I have a pretty hard time not smiling,” Morris said. “I feel like I am able to approach things with a pretty upbeat perspective.”
Morris said there were times that both a male and female would co-lead, but there has not been just one male CA in some time.
Morris is most excited to teach his LAC about support and diligence.
“[I want to teach them that] when you have an event or you have a leadership role, [to make] sure you understand your expectations and expectations you have of yourself,” he said. “[And] what it looks to be supported, to support each other as an LAC because they are going to be [each other’s] biggest support.”