A Day in the Life Of A Dorm Assistant

 By Hannah Pickett

Six years ago, Uncle Scott Poulter stepped foot on the Dalat campus as a dorm assistant. He has bright, strawberry blonde hair and limits his wardrobe to black, grey, and brown. Why did he become a dorm assistant? Well, Uncle Scott answers, “My student experience was good, so I wanted to come back and serve the school and give the students the same joy I had.”

A dorm assistant may seem like a fun and quaint job on the outside. However, there’s more to it than meets the eye. There are both challenging and merry days. Here is what an average day in the life of a dorm assistant looks like: As the sun rises, Uncle Scott wakes up and, for precisely five minutes, reads the news to brush the morning feels away. He then gets out of bed and eats his breakfast which usually consists of yogurt, toast, and cereal. After eating, he washes himself up and leaves by 6.55 am to get to the dorms by 7 am. If there’s breakfast to cook, like french toast or cut fruit, he’ll prepare that. Otherwise, he would perch himself on a couch and wait for the students to exit their rooms. He quotes, “I say good morning along with their name,” as the students come to eat breakfast. After the students leave for school, he goes for a 30-minute run/walk to straits-qi and visits Starbucks for a coffee and bite of pastry. He then walks back to Dalat and catches up on emails or communication with administrators or parents. 

In the afternoon, he always takes a 30-minute nap. After his snooze, he either has a meeting with a teacher or works on dorm staff meeting logistics. If he has enough time to fit in before the clock strikes three, he will set off to buy groceries. 

After supper is when he does financial things for the dorm. Such things include organizing the dorm’s budget and receipts. By 10 pm, he finishes his shift and heads down to his apartment. As soon as he enters, he does devotions and then dozes off after a long day with kids and meetings.  

By no means does Uncle Scott regret his job. This job has allowed him to reach out and impact students’ lives, which has been Uncle Scott’s main highlight. However, as enjoyable as influencing others is, the schedule of a dorm assistant limits his social life. Because he works from the afternoon till night, he struggles to join small groups or do social activities. But none the less, Uncle Scott still strives in his job as a dorm assistant and, with joy, serves the school.