Big Sis to the rescue

By Katie Cambron
Washington County High School

It’s 10:30 p.m. The aroma of freshly popped corn fills the hallway of Sienna 4A on the Bellarmine University campus in Louisville. Twenty young ladies, all rising high school seniors and Kentucky Governor’s Scholars, are gathered to discuss the activities of the upcoming day.
At the head of this meeting is their Resident Adviser Martha Hellman. It’s clear that she’s in charge, but not in an overbearing way.
The hall meetings on Sienna 4A, in one of Bellarmine’s newest dormatories, seem to resemble a nightly slumber party. There are snacks, friendship bracelets, and tons of chatter. All 20 hall members bond together and wind-down from a busy day. Everyone is comfortable and relaxed. This relaxing environment is all about Martha.
“Martha is a sisterly figure. She is not intimidating and is very easy to talk to”, said Kate Halsey, a student at Johnson Central High School in Johnson County.
The scholars are among 358 high school seniors who are spending five weeks on the Bellarmine campus for an intense course of studies and extracurricular activities designed to prepare them for a future of leadership. When they arrived on June 19, they felt alone in a strange place, surrounded by strangers.
Enter Martha.
She is a person the students can turn to for advice. As a 2007 scholar, she understands what the scholars are experiencing as they are discovering themselves and the world around them while participating in the program. Her door is always open. Likewise, Martha’s openness and understanding can be seen in all of the scholars on her hall. Each student seems to be ready to talk and especially to listen.
Martha became an RA to help create a community experience for scholars. Her hall has become more than a community. It’s a family, with Martha as the loveable big sister.
“Every scholar goes home having found a role model”, says Aris Cedeño, Executive Director and Academic Chair of the Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program. For many of the Sienna 4A scholars, Martha is that role model.
“Martha is everything that young women our age aspire to be,” said Halsey, “academically successful, socially thriving, and understanding of others.”
Martha is one of 60 resident advisors hired by the Governor’s Scholasr Program for the 2011 summer experience at Bellarmine and its two sister campuses, Centre College and Murray State University.
The advisors are each responsible for a hall of approximately 20 scholars. They keep track of their students, keeping them safe, and making sure they get where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there. They also watch for signs of personal trouble of any kind.
The RA’s are also responsible for conducting a seminar class, in which a diverse group of scholars engage in respectful debate and discussion of issues relevant to them intellectually and emotionally. Many veterans of the GSP say the RA’s have the hardest jobs in the program.
So it’s interesting that the Resident Advisors also seem to be the most upbeat, approachable, comforting and yes, happy people on campus. Ask any scholar.
Now it’s 10:50 p.m. All that is left of the popcorn are a few unpopped kernels. In 10 minutes it will be lights out in Sienna 4A. As the scholars return to their dorm rooms, the chatter fades. There is a quiet comfort in the hall, knowing that Big Sister Martha is only a few doors away.