This feature originally appeared in the Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to calbearbackers@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
By Herb Benenson, Cal Athletic Communications
Life as a student-athlete is both rewarding and time demanding. The same can be said of being a resident assistant in the dorms on campus. Combine the two, and the prospects could seem quite daunting.
Yet that’s exactly what a pair of Golden Bear student-athletes did. Madison Kerst, a coxswain on the women's rowing team, and Cindy Tran, a recent graduate and former national champion swimmer, tackled the challenges of leading in the residence halls, giving them a rare blend of combining what they have learned in the athletic arena with intimate and daily interaction with members of the student body outside of their student-athlete circle.
While both aspects of their lives certainly present their own sets of challenges and benefits, both Kerst and Tran say that they applied what they have acquired in athletics to their residents, and vice versa.
“I came in thinking I was this awesome communicator because I’m a coxswain and communication, by nature, is what I do,” Kerst said. “My communication style has changed so much since I became an RA. I’m so fortunate to learn new communication techniques and how to talk to different people in different ways. It’s not about what you’re saying; it’s about what they hear. I’ve been able to take that and apply it back to my career as a coxswain. It’s been a best-of-both-worlds situation. Coming in with skills, having them develop in a new way, and then redeveloping, it’s just been a positive loop.”
Although Tran has left the pool after four years swimming for coach Teri McKeever and finished her degree in sociology in May, the parallels still exist.
“From what I’ve experienced, I have to speak through a more counseling and mentoring voice,” Tran said. “It’s very different from what I learned as a swimmer where I had to be a strong figure. I’ve learned that I’m not as empathetic as I thought I was. There’s a different tone that I have to use.”
Communicating effectively with a wide array of residents who have their own values, interests and backgrounds is only one aspect of the position. The basic job description for RAs contains two, single-spaced pages of rules, expectations and essential functions. It includes everything from maintaining a minimum GPA and fulltime academic status to a commitment of nearly 20 hours per week with required nights, weekends and holidays. RAs are also responsible for community development, programming and administration of the dorms. In many ways, the policies parallel those for student-athletes.
In order to meet those obligations, Kerst, who is an RA at Stern Hall, worked out an arrangement with her coaches that allows her to skip practice occasionally when she has night duty, which lasts from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. and causes her to miss the early 6 a.m. workouts.
“Every single day is a challenge,” Kerst said. “Luckily, I have a lot of support from both sides – my coaches and my supervisor. If I’m on duty on a Thursday night, I won’t be able to attend practice the next day. That’s just something I have to deal with and step up my game on the days when I am at practice. My dad always told me that when you go to practice, you leave everything else at the door. That’s something that’s been in my mind since I started rowing eight years ago and especially through this year. When I’m at rowing, it’s all about rowing.”
Kerst had interest in becoming an RA when she was still in high school in Long Beach, seeing it as an opportunity to impact others and give them more insight into what it means to be a student in Berkeley.
“It fits so well with who I knew myself to be,” said Kerst, who has already been accepted as an RA into her same building again for next year. “I love working with people and love the idea of being like a floor mom and resource and having the chance to work with people who can grow and blossom.”
While Kerst has a packed schedule with school, rowing and RA duties, much of Tran’s motivation to becoming an RA was to fill the void left after the end of her swimming career last spring. Without the hours devoted to training and competition, she felt that her final year at Cal was missing something.
Tran applied to be an RA last summer, but wasn’t accepted into the program. Then just before the start of the spring term, an opening at Clark Kerr arose, and she was given 48 hours to decide whether to accept the position. It’s a choice she readily accepted, even if it meant she would be in the role for only a few months.
“I hadn’t really expanded myself on campus,” Tran said. “I also wanted to meet new friends and step outside of my comfort zone.”
In addition to monitoring the residents to help ensure they abide by school guidelines, Kerst and Tran spent much of their time creating regular programming where they can often utilize skills learned from their sports.
For example, Tran worked with fellow staff at Clark Kerr earlier this spring on a SKILLZ presentation, organizing a weeklong series of events that incorporated CPR training, nutrition management, financial planning and social skills.
“I definitely took all this for granted when I was a resident,” Tran said. “But it’s definitely cool to be on the other side. This is a great new hobby to pick up now that I am a retired athlete. I needed to put my time and energy somewhere else productive.”
Kerst similarly helps develop activities that focus on such subjects as body image and fitness. Given she works with about 50 residents at an all-female dorm, she coordinated a Women Empowerment Month in October with seminars on healthy foods and yoga, as well as a night to polish nails and make homemade facials.
“It was such an impactful program, and I think it helped this community of women feel good about themselves in a new environment,” Kerst said. “It was really important to my coworkers and me that we instill positivity in these women so they can feel good at Cal and be our best selves and go do great things. I feel like our program really helped achieve that.”
As an added benefit, Kerst and Tran said they are finding ways to break down stereotypes, about RAs and student-athletes. RAs aren’t simply strict supervisors out to get residents in trouble, and student-athletes clearly do exhibit deep interest in their academics and school life.
“The residents who are not athletes are very interested in the athletic life,” Tran said. “They ask a lot of questions. What was swimming like? What are these teams like? What is your schedule like? They’re very receptive and are interested in going to games and meets.”
Added Kerst: “I tell them about my teammates. I tell my teammates about my residents. I think the first step is raising awareness on both sides about breaking those stereotypes and then try to create more of a culture of understanding among both groups. I’m encouraging a student-athlete mindset. I do a lot of goal-oriented programs. We talk about being healthy. It’s a lot of the same stuff I’ve experienced in my student-athlete life. They’re getting a taste of that without necessarily being student-athletes.”
After all, these are all Cal students, and, as Kerst and Tran have found, they have a lot in common.
