Western Washington University - Resident Advisors Then, Resident Advisors Now

Back in the day, that would be the 80's for you youngsters, I was an RA.

Resident Advisor. My chosen job site? Western Washington University in Bellingham. Loved the campus. Being 4 hours from home was an added bonus. Plus the rain. Lots of rain.

The RA's I knew dealt with plenty of funny, tense, scary, and weird scenarios. We were part program director, confidant, counselor, friend, goof-off, and building manager.

We delivered mail, let lock-outs back into their rooms, sat weekly duty nights and regular duty weekends, planned educational/and/or/fun programs for residents, and offered listenting ears.

Counseling occured on occasion and I even once took a resident to the ER. Pre and post-arrival inventories of the building were on our list of duties as well as being the happy WWU greeters upon the arrival of students in the fall. Conflict resolution and roommate disagreements kept us busy. The worst we faced were drunk residents playing naked poker, being interrupted on campus and having to return to the dorm to let frantic students into their rooms, and carting food back to the sick. Our building was against a hillside, so we added the joy of marauding raccoons when they entered rooms that had open windows.

That was about it. Nothing too bad, some things pretty funny, other events sad.

But today! I hadn't even thought about what RA's face in current times.

The daily newspaper had an article where WWU classes were cancelled yesterday and students were sent home early for Thanksgiving due to a serious bomb threat! Campus threats, racism, staged protests, and I'm sure much more face university staff on a regular basis. But the bomb scare really caused me to stop and consider.

What do students and staff face now that was not an issue 30 years ago? Bombs, illegal drugs, legal drugs, physical attacks, cyber attacks, human trafficking, and a changing-so-rapidly-society that difficulties in keeping up are plentiful.

Just like in the world, scary, unsettling, and dangerous happenings seem to be occurring more often and with more frequency.

One could even become depressed and adopt reclusiveness as a lifestyle choice.

But. Hope.

There is always hope. Prayer is needed, on a big scale. I was happy to see a photo of students in Red Square praying and singing for university students.

I can help. From home. I'm sure that WWU is not the only educational institution under attack. More than sure.

I choose hope and prayer. In these troubling times, hope and prayer will work.

Fun with Friends - Logging Boom Days of Northern Idaho Photos Discovered

Me, ready for a tour of Potlatch, circa 1993

This was going to be a Throwback Thursday post. But I have a thankful project going on Thursday's. So we will call this Throwback Friday.

On Wednesday, I blogged about taking classes with my fellow teacher and friend. The class topic was Logging Boom Days of Northern Idaho. After the post went live, guess who discovered photos from the same trip?

Me. Amazing. If only you could see how many actual real live photographs I have. Boxes. Albums. Drawers.

Thousands. And that is a conservative estimate.

So here, to celebrate a miracle, are photos from our famous (in our minds) class about the Logging Boom Days of Northern Idaho.

1993 - Logging Boom Days of Northern Idaho

Alyson and I, in the midst of the class, posing by old wood (presumably logged during the logging boom days of northern Idaho)

First night out, camping in Idaho. This was the place I locked the keys in the van, hours from AAA, leaving us stranded and late for class. We definitely made an impression on that instructor!

Hiking uphill through beautiful forests

Here I come, walking down the street, get the funniest looks from, everyone she meets . . . (The first one to name that tune gets a free forest map from Idaho - comment below)

One of us is a goof off. Just saying . . . at Potlatch tour. Beware of falling logs and metal structures!

Our lovely 3-person cabins along the St. Joe's River. It really was a beautiful spot. The river was right across the gravel road.

Bats! Told you there were bats. In the previous picture you can see how easily they could inhabit the space between the tin and wooden roof.

Lovely bat-free zone accommodations.

Log-perching. The perfect place for inspiration. This is where I penned some of my poem for the class. The only downfall was that the time allowed for log-perching was too short.


Angie Quantrell loves getting out into nature. The forests of northern Idaho are indeed worth the dust, travel, sweat, and bats. I think I need a return trip!