The Honors Living-Learning Community 

The Perspective of an Honors Resident Assistant 

By: Lauren Wessling

In the spring of his freshman year, University of Iowa honors student Krishna Bharadwaj was sitting at his computer when an email came across his screen. Bharadwaj had been chosen to be a residential assistant, or RA, for the upcoming school year. 

He had been chosen for a special role, selected to serve as an RA for the Honors Living-Learning Community (LLC) located on the top two floors of Catlett Hall. It’s a role designed to assist honors students specifically and help cultivate a positive experience while living in the dorms and at the UI. 

Currently a sophomore, Bharadwaj works to balance a busy schedule as a biomedical engineering major, pursuing his life goal of using science to “bring back dinosaurs,” and most importantly, aspiring to help the honors student residents he’s been advising for the past seven months. 

“The advice I have to give residents is much more focused on academics and the courses of study they’re taking as opposed to more general conversations about switching from high school to college,” Bharadwaj said. 

As someone who lived in the Honors LLC during his freshman year, Bharadwaj was inspired to apply to help that same community.

“I applied for the Honors LLC because … I felt like I dealt with many of the issues honors students face and really thought that I would be able to guide honors students through it,” he said.

Most of Bharadwaj’s day-to-day tasks consist of meeting with his advisor, being on duty a few times a month, putting up bulletin boards, and talking to his residents. However, serving on the honors floor, Bharadwaj also focuses on doing what he can to best assist honors students on campus. 

“Honors students face different challenges than regular students,” Bharadwaj said. “They come from high school where they were already doing pretty good in school, and that means they face higher academic pressure and they set higher expectations for themselves.”

Bharadwaj highlights that the amount of coursework increases compared to high school and that it can catch students off guard. 

“I think it’s useful for me to be here to help people navigate that,” Bharadwaj said.

One of Bharadwaj’s residents, first-year honors student Jessica Treinen, expressed how helpful it is for honors students to have guidance from someone within the program.

“Krishna really helps everyone in understanding the requirements of the program and how to fulfill them,” she said. “He's also a great person to turn to with any questions about life or just to chat with in general. Seeing him always brightens my day.” 

As someone who has been on both sides of this role, both as a resident and as an RA, Bharadwaj emphasizes the importance of the Honors LLC in building community among honors students.

“I think it helps being in a community with other people who are very academically driven and ambitious,” he said. “I feel like you can learn a lot from the people around you in the honors program, and the Honors LLC is the best way to do that.”