OC Mag 01-22

NATALIE WHEELER, RESIDENT
DIRECTOR OF FERN SMITH HALL
do, some elements of a therapist or counselor, some
academic support, some older sibling tendencies as
well. A portion of it is event planning and programming.
At the core, our job is to support the students
in our buildings in whatever ways they need.”
Of course, there are the mundane aspects of the job,
too, such as addressing some maintenance requests,
but the most important part of being a resident director
is building relationships with the students.
Small things like looking at a student’s football card
collection can be the foundations for bigger things
later on.
“We talk about the game on the weekend or whatever
and sometimes that relationship leads to them
feeling comfortable and coming to us when their
grandfather passes away suddenly or a breakup happens
or they’re struggling with some mental health or
anxiety type things,” Simmelink said.
Issues such as anxiety and depression have always
been present at colleges. For many years, those numbers
had seemed steady, but it feels like more of an
issue in recent years, Simmelink said. Knowing how
to address those problems for a student can be a challenge.
“You have to figure out that balance of needing to
support and help you out, but I also don’t want to
enable unhealthy behavior and don’t want to remove
their agency from their lives,” he said.
That’s all part of what he and the other resident
directors call a ministry of presence. With a smaller
campus and smaller living quarters, Northwestern’s
resident directors feel like they can make a bigger
impact on students’ lives than if they were at a larger
college or university.
Still, it’s not always obvious that you are making
much of a difference, and that can be frustrating at
times, Simmelink said.
“What I like about construction is it’s very tangible.
I built this, here it is. Ministry and relational stuff is
not that. You got to find some ways to measure your
success and count your wins when you can because
sometimes it is a lot of work with no real tangible pay
off,” he said. “You have to trust what you’re doing
and trust the work and that what we’re about matters.
We’re planting seeds and sometimes you don’t see
that grow, and that’s OK. You can’t be too prideful.”
How did you come to be a resident director? When
did you begin?
“Through prayer and conversations I found myself applying
for the open female resident hall director position in the spring
of 2020. It was a good fit for my next step in life because it has
allowed me to develop relationships that will hopefully last for a
few years if not more with my students and be a small part of their
growth as they navigate college and life. I started in August of 2020.”
How many students do you oversee?
“I currently have 124 women living in Fern Smith Hall.”
What are some of the common things you run into
when working with students?
“Lots of conversations involving what the students are learning
not only in their classes or campus activities but also in their
interactions with their peers or what they are finding out about
themselves through living with others in a dorm setting.
Questions as they hear things they haven’t heard of before in
chapel or classes or meetings/groups. We process their beliefs or
their thoughts they agree with and those they also don’t agree with.
Random conversations in the hallways involving a large variety
of topics from faith and politics to food and favorite movies
to friendships and relationships. There is always a conversation
happening in the dorm with some random topic.”
Could you compare today’s students to your own
college experience?
“Personally, I feel the social media is playing a large factor in the
lives of our students today. Yes, we had social media when I was in
college, but it’s grown in the last six to eight years and keeps on
growing. Smartphones are such a big part of what students do for
fun or streaming devices for movies and TV shows. There seems to
be more options for students to find ways to isolate themselves in
their own dorm rooms and not interact with their peers. Students
are not being as involved in campus activities as they were when I
was in college.”
What has kept you in this job? What do you really
enjoy about it?
“What’s kept me in this job are the students that give me life and
the opportunity to share up to four years of their life with them
as they grow and change throughout their college careers. The
opportunities to get to know them, laugh and cry with them, have
hard conversations and lighthearted ones. … My job is hard and
sometimes socially draining, but it’s also very rewarding in so many
ways.”
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 35