GSAS RAs help everyone feel at home, even at Thanksgiving, even if you don't know what Thanksgiving is.

Call it the most multi-tasking job you’ll ever love. Serving as facility liaisons, counselors, tour guides, mediators, and event planners, the Graduate School’s 16 resident advisors (RAs) help to create a vital sense of community among the 417 graduate students who live in the GSAS residence halls, many of whom may have little familiarity with Cambridge and Boston — or the United States, for that matter.

As a second-year RA in Perkins Hall and a G3 in psychology, Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington is now a veteran at handling the multitude of issues that residents bring to their RAs. “You never know what a resident’s email will contain,” she says. “The requests could range from something simple, like where can I buy kitchen equipment, to as complex as concerns about the wellbeing of another resident. We try to work with first-year residents, who are often very sociable and keen to get residents together, and encourage everyone to get involved and have a voice in the process.”

“One of the things I like about living in the residence halls is how well you get to know people,” says Donal Cahill, a second-year RA in Richards Hall, who is also a G3 in psychology. “You feel quite central in terms of the grad student community. Some residents are very outgoing, and they have opportunities to interact with others through floor social events, coming together to cook meals, and so on. You’re always running into people, and so you get to know your fellow students very well.”

One of the biggest and most anticipated events of the year is the Thanksgiving Lunch, which brings together residents from all the halls to celebrate on Thanksgiving Day (this year, November 24). Cahill, who co-coordinated the lunch last year, says it “provides a focus point for people who aren’t traveling home to hang out together and keep the social atmosphere going. Thanksgiving is a quintessential American celebration, so it provides the chance for those unfamiliar with the holiday to get a sense of what it’s all about.   Many international students will attend, but American students do as well.”

This year’s Thanksgiving Lunch in the Residences, to be held on Thanksgiving Day (November 24), will be coordinated by Hiro Yoshie (Child Hall basement RA and a G2 in East Asian languages and civilizations) and Mazen Elfakhani (Child Hall 2nd floor RA and a G3 in sociology).

Become a GSAS RA, or Explore Other Harvard Leadership Positions

Interested in leadership roles at Harvard — and in the significant community-building and professional-development benefits they bring?

Attend an informational meeting about resident and Dudley fellow positions for the 2012-2013 academic year.

Thursday, December 1, 4 p.m., Dudley House Common Room

The meeting will feature a student-led discussion about opportunities as freshman proctors in the freshman dormitories, resident tutors in the Houses, resident advisors in the GSAS residence halls, and Dudley fellows.

For information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (617-495-5005), GSAS director of student services.