Peer Leaders, OLs, RAs, and other campus leaders are held to certain standards, especially when it comes to partying.

These faces of Pace pride and rule-following success are not ex- pected to be seen outside of the boundaries of legality.

This is understandable for RAs (resident assistants)- they are the enforcers of the rules. An RA who goes to on-campus parties is a hypocrite, and a hypocrite is in danger of losing his/her job at that. RAs should never be spotted at the townhouses with red solo cup in hand.

However, it is a different story for Peer Leaders and OLs (ori- entation leaders). Also held to a high standard, Peer Leaders and OLs are, like RAs, expected to be rule-followers. But, the job of these leaders is not to enforce the rules. Thus, the lines of the peer leader-peer relationship can get a bit tricky.

“A peer leader is someone of authority, respect, and responsi- bility. But, at the same time, we are still teenagers and college stu- dents,” sophomore nursing major and peer leader Jennifer Robertson said.

In the case of Peer Leaders,

there is nothing in their contract that states they will lose their job if caught partying. Although, they are told not to be buddy-buddy with their freshmen peer students; there is a line that peer leaders are expected not to cross.

“Your peer kids will look at you differently if you’re smashed on a Saturday,” Robertson said. “It’s a hard mix. You are someone of authority. People know you’re not perfect, but sometimes there is too high of a standard.”

Peer leaders are not rule-en- forcers, nor should they be. Thus, keeping the relationship formal should not be necessary.

“We already have so many formal relationships with advisors and teachers. It would be good to have a person who is above you, but is also a friend,” freshman education major LeeAnn Reyn- olds said. “At the houses, one peer leader kept apologizing for being a bad example.”

Clearly, peer leaders feel that they are crossing lines that they shouldn’t be- simply by being seen at parties by freshmen. These faces of Pace pride on campus shouldn’t be so worried about being seen by freshmen outside of the classroom or Freshmen Cup events; the job of a leader is to be a source of support and Pace knowledge for freshmen. This isn’t to say that there isn’t any kind of line- this is just to say that the line should not be strict to the

point of blatantly ignoring and/or profusely apologizing to under- classmen in public party settings.

“I treat my peer leader like any other kid,” said a freshman who chose to remain anonymous, prob- ably because he admitted to not only partying himself, but also to “seeing RA’s, OLs, and peer lead- ers” at these parties. “The RA was cool. The others (OLs and Peer Leaders) ignored me awkwardly,”

said the freshman.
This technically should have

been reversed. The RA could po- tentially lose his or her job for be- ing at the parties. The OL and Peer leaders, on the other hand, should not have felt obligated to apolo- gize for their appearance/state and scurry away so as to not be seen. No matter what the relationship, place, or time, it is more awkward to attempt to cover any mistakes or

“Sara, go try to be President, ok?” said my grandmother in her Irish accent.

I responded to them with a mere smirk and shake of the head, but they both just looked at me more deeply. They weren’t exag- gerating about the million dollars.

The stress of attempting to have both a bright future and a career of your choosing, simul- taneously making “a million dol- lars,” is an ever-present one. What if I don’t succeed? Who will I let down, beside myself? Do my par- ents understand that the job mar- ket isn’t so great at the moment? Even with a fantastic job market, it would still take quite a while to work up to a million-dollar salary. But, I’m getting an education, so, as my mother put it, “There’s no excuse to be jobless. You just have to be better than everyone.” The pressure’s on.

“My siblings failed. My par- ents say, ‘You’re getting a job. You’re gonna be the one to use your education,’” said sophomore criminal justice major Meaghan Biggs.

“My father said I have to make Dean’s List this year. He thinks I have to be better than perfect. I geta98onatest,andmydadasks about the other two points,” said sophomore accounting major Be- san Bashjawish of her father, who is an immigrant.

Clearly, students are experi- encing immense pressure from parents. But, despite this pres- sure, they make sure to stay true to themselves, choosing majors that

ignore someone you know instead of just keeping it together and say- ing hi.

So, keep it together, peer lead- ers and OL’s. But don’t be afraid to be friendly to the freshmen; it’ll save quite a bit of awkwardness. And good luck remaining partying hypocrites, RAs…although I can’t quite blame you for wanting to break the rules once in a while.