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Attention, students! Here's a chance to get to know your RA. For those who don't know, Resident Assistants provide care, guidance, advice, and spiritual leadership in their dorms, acting as the touchpoint between students and the administration. Their responsibilities include leading wing chapel twice a week and planning events for their wings. We asked this year's RAs about the reason they're excited to be RAs, their plans for wing chapel, and their plans for a wing event or wing theme.
Anika Bebb
Being an RA: I am excited to get to know the girls in my wing and hopefully grow closer to the Lord together!
Wing chapel: I hope to emphasize rest and worship in wing chapel with a particular focus on the gospel and biblical femininity.
Wing theme: I am thinking maybe a beach theme would be good for a wing theme . . . still thinking about that though.
Hannah Bruck
Being an RA: I'm looking forward to the fellowship made possible by being surrounded by a community of like-minded women. There’s something so humbling about being able to participate in this expression of the body of Christ. I can't wait to spend time with, worship with, and get to know everyone better this next year.
Wing chapel: For the past few months, I have been spending my time in Psalms and want to build our wing chapel schedule around them. In addition to studying and meditating on God’s word, I want to incorporate times of group worship and prayer into wing chapel time. Wing chapels are precious and my most basic “plan” is really to facilitate us towards loving our God together as sisters.
Wing theme: My wing theme vision (like all ideas I have) is eclectic more than structured. In short, the vision is a museum (because anything can be in a museum) with elements of the Wild West. I intend to incorporate some pieces of art done by girls in the wing and hope it truly does feel like a home each girl has a part in building.
Becca Doty
Being an RA: I am so excited for the fellowship in the wing, as well as the dorm as a whole!
Wing chapel: I’m hoping to lead my wing through 1 John, but there’s still time so we’ll see where the Lord leads me.
Wing theme: It’s later in December/January time, but I would love to go walk around the National Gallery of Art and then ice skate at their outdoor rink. 😊
Sarah Fox
Being an RA: There are many things I am looking forward to as an RA, but I think encompassing all of them is thankfulness for the opportunity to pour into a wing full of women for one more year. There is nothing like the experience of college where we get to uniquely live life together, worship together, cry together, and see how God moves in each other's lives in every facet. I am looking forward to walking alongside my fellow sisters in Christ, and am thankful for the opportunity to encourage them to look up in hope to the things that are above.
Wing chapel: I am planning on going through Philippians on Tuesdays and C. S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters on Thursdays. Both of these books have been encouragements to me and I'm looking forward to learning through them together.
Wing theme: My wing theme will be the "Ivy League." No, it's not pretentious, but yes, my wing will be filled with lots and lots of fake ivy. However, each room will be assigned a different Ivy League school name and there may be some friendly competitions throughout the year.
Ellie Henry
Being an RA: I’m so excited to build community! Dorm life is fun and exciting, and I want to make the most of it with the girls who live in my wing. I cannot wait for a year of sweet conversations, memories, and lots of study parties!
Wing chapel: I am going to do a study based on the book Gentle and Lowly and dig into the Scriptures it incorporates. As students, it’s easy to get caught up in how well we are performing—both academically and spiritually— and I want to combat those worries with truth. The book really reminds the reader of how Jesus is so tender in his love for us and what it means to have a faithful intercessor.
Wing theme: My wing theme is Book Café! I love all things coffee and tea and studying at coffee shops with friends. I wanted my wing to be an extension of that studious, community-focused environment!
Faith Jones
Being an RA: I can’t wait to meet the new freshmen and develop a wing culture! The bonds you make and the memories you share are some of the sweetest things I’ve experienced within a wing, so I can’t wait to cultivate that fellowship this next year.
Wing chapel: My plan is to go through Ecclesiastes and contrast the emptiness of a life apart from Christ with the one that finds fulfillment in Him. I specifically want to emphasize biblical womanhood and its sweetness and strength, despite a culture that wants to twist our identities into a caricature of the truth.
Wing theme: My wing theme is a “midwest back porch!” Think bulb string lights, barn windows, window boxes, and cornfields! I’m from the Midwest and wanted to replicate the tight-knit community and warmth that I think comes with Midwest culture into a wing environment.
Grace King
Being an RA: I am super excited to do life with the girls in my wing and to be able to help facilitate good discussion in wing chapel.
Wing chapel: Something I am looking forward to is reading the Bible as much as we can. I want to see if we can dedicate some wing chapels to just reading passages out loud together.
Wing theme: My wing theme is going to be Cracker Barrel :)
Kennedy King
Being an RA: I am most excited to get to know the new incoming class and really spending some time getting to know and praying for the group of girls who end up in my wing! Relationships and community are so central to life at PHC, I’m really excited to get to help host opportunities that help build that community.
Wing chapel: I hope to help create an environment where people feel as if they can be honest in wing chapel and feel seen and prayed for by the other girls in the wing. Discussions on what it looks like to live out various Christian callings are some of the most beneficial conversations I’ve ever been a part of, so I also hope to tackle some of those ideas.
Wing events: I’ve got a couple of ideas for wing events, but also really enjoy just doing the spontaneous small stuff, like taking a quick trip to go get coffee from Starbucks. In the past, I also really benefited from getting to know the guys in my brother wing, so I hope to have opportunities to do things alongside them.
Katie Northcott
Being an RA: I’m excited to get to know the girls in my wing. I want the wing to be a safe place for people to come chill and talk when they’re not running around with other activities.
Wing chapel: Still thinking.
Wing theme or event: Still thinking.
Grace Schmidt
Being an RA: I always look forward to the late-night conversations! Sometimes they're about faith, school, or struggles, but those are times I always treasure because you get to know each other so much better!
Wing chapel: I plan on going through 1 Corinthians! 1 & 2 Corinthians have been such an encouragement in my life. I can't wait to discuss with my wing what 1 Corinthians has to teach us about Jesus and our lives!
Wing event: My freshman RA, Mary, took our wing on a big hike during one of the first weekends of school and I plan on doing the same with my wing this year. Nothing like a little sweat to bond with people quickly!
Abigail Spivey
Being an RA: I am most looking forward to building relationships with the girls in my wing and growing in the Lord alongside them. I am also excited about the unique opportunity to practice hospitality through my room and my time.
Wing chapel: I am planning to do a thematic study for wing chapel. I would also like wing chapels to be a place to grow closer to God together, a time to encourage and pray for each other, and an opportunity to rest from schoolwork.
Wing theme: My wing theme idea is modeled around Psalm 121:1-2, "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." The goal is to create a wing that reminds us to lift our eyes to the Lord and find rest in Him. I will be using the imagery of mountains and clouds (or sunsets) throughout.
Ainsley Stellman
Being an RA: I am most looking forward to the opportunity to show hospitality to the girls in my wing. I am excited to have an open door from morning prayer to late night studying, to have a cup of tea and a knit blanket always ready to meet a visitor, and for the sweet conversations and relationships that God will foster through sharing life together.
Wing chapel: For wing chapel, I plan to spend Tuesdays in study and Thursdays in prayer. On Tuesdays, we will consider how the Christian life is defined and transformed by humility and gratitude. On Thursdays, we will deepen our relationships with God and each other through prayer, praise, and encouragement.
Wing theme: My wing theme is Heavenly Home. My prayer for my wing is that the chaos and anxiety of school will fade amidst the comfort of home and the call to holiness; that we might choose to rest in the presence of our Maker; that we will be transformed by that Divine Love whose service is perfect freedom.
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Patrick Henry College exists to glorify God by challenging the status quo in higher education, lifting high both faith and reason within a rigorous academic environment; thereby preserving for posterity the ideals behind the "noble experiment in ordered liberty" that is the foundation of America.
