Lots of people help uphold Cairn, but Resident Assistants have the unique position of being models and leaders who serve right along side the student body, especially in the dorms. The RA team this year has done a phenomenal job in their service and leadership. Next year, Abigail Rider is excited to be joining the team. She transferred into Cairn’s social work program this year after spending eight months in urban ministry in Wilmington, Delaware. Before that she spent a year at Word of Life in Argentina. She has quickly become involved at Cairn, serving on the Chi Beta Sigma cabinet, working in the ARC, and helping with the yearbook. Now, she shares her thoughts as she looks towards digging deeper into Cairn student life in the fall.

Q: What excites you most about being RA?

I’m excited for the platform to not only seek people out, but to make myself available for people in a real way. I’ll only be a phone call away or a door down. I’ll be able to reach a lot of different people because it’s my ‘job’ to reach them. I get to be more active in the Cairn campus life and really add a new and fresh dynamic to welcoming the new class and transfers in the same way that was really welcoming and impactful for me last year.

Q: What kind of atmosphere do you want to create among your girls and help them grow through?

I want to break the Christian bubble and encourage them to be purposeful. People here can become apathetic about their faith and just focus on classes, but I want to encourage the girls to seek out help from others when they need it. They can them take the help they received and pour it into others. I want to focus on discipleship and pour into my girls and therefore teach them to pour into others. I can’t pour into every girl, but I can encourage the girls in my hall to do it themselves.

Q: How do you think your position as RA will grow you as an individual?

I think I’ll learn about being humble and being a servant; sincerely wanting to help people even through the midst of the stress of school and other obligations. It’s easy to get caught up in grades and classes and appearances, but I want to have an eternal perspective. Having the mindset that this is my community and I want to invest in it. It will cause me to grow in my relationships with people to be vulnerable and create a place for them to be vulnerable and affirmed and supported too.

Q: How do you specifically want to implement building community in an effective way?

I love Heritage and the great room, but I know the value of having a smaller cozy space to have a deep conversation in. My roommate and I really want to have an open door to provide a comfortable space for people to come and have deep conversation, rest, laughter, or cry. We also love COFFEE, and we firmly believe caffeine is a God-send, so we’d love to have girls over for coffee, good laughs, and good chats.