Being "the face of Notre Dame"

Last night, my rector held an interest meeting for any juniors who are thinking about applying to be RAs. I’m still not sure if I’m going to apply, but it was interesting to hear the opinions of my hall staff on the work they do. They had plenty of stories about the fun times they had during hall staff training, going to the pool and out to dinner. They promised us that being on duty isn’t so bad.

“Just think of duty night as a chance to socialize within the dorm, and get to know all your fellow Badin residents,” one RA said. “You’ll get to be friends with all the freshmen- and our freshmen are awesome.”

Being an RA isn’t always a party, though. At one point my rector talked about the important responsibility RAs have as representatives of Notre Dame.

“As an RA, you are the face of Notre Dame,” she said. “You have a responsibility to always act in keeping with that.”

I thought about what she said, and I realized that the RAs aren’t the only ones who have a responsibility to represent Notre Dame.

Maybe you’ve heard the old joke: “How do you know if someone in the room went to Notre Dame?” “Because they told you.”

We laugh about our Domer pride that leads us to tell everyone where we went for undergrad, but the joke has some truth to it. When people know that you’re a Notre Dame student or alum, they look at you differently. You become the face of Notre Dame to countless people who may not have any other contact with the university. As students or graduates of the world’s premier Catholic university, we’re part of a community much bigger than ourselves- and maybe we have a duty to be good ambassadors for it.

What does it mean for you to be “the face of Notre Dame?”