Paul Rogat Loeb's essay about Rosa Parks interestingly brings up the idea of change coming about not from an individual act, but from the work of a group of people with a similar goal. Loeb talks about the idea that we often place important figures in history on pedestals based on skewed stories. In the case of Rosa Parks, everyone knows the story of how she refused to get up and move to the back of the bus which in turn helped to start the Montgomery bus boycotts. However, what people do not know is that Parks was not the first person to do this exact act of defiance, and in addition, she had been a part of the NAACP for many years. Her decision to not move to the back of the bus was not a spontaneous act of defiance, but actually, a calculated action used to perpetuate a movement.
Without the support of the larger group and those you may be working with, it can often be very difficult to really create change or accomplish an important goal. As RA's, we have the support of the rest of our staff to accomplish our common goal of producing a positive experience for the freshmen. As individuals, we can take deliberate actions set out by working together to encourage change and help make the transition to college a positive one. If we try to do everything on our own, we can often be unsuccessful, but by learning to work together the year can be a great success.
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