How I Work: Residence hall director
You might be surprised, but did you know some UALR employees live in their office? Leanna Payton, West Residence Hall Director and Student Development Specialist in housing, is one of the few that does. After she completed grad school at the University of Oklahoma, she landed at UALR and started working in her current position.
Today, Leanna gives us an inside look at what it’s like to both work and live on campus.
Where do you work? Student Housing…West Hall (all freshmen residence hall)
Describe the view from your desk It’s funny, because I ‘live at work…’ literally. I live where I work. My apartment is located in the lobby of West Hall. The front desk (open 24/7) is located in the lobby as well, and my office is connected to the front desk office, with a wall division, of course. My office is made out of glass with blinds that can come down when I hold meetings. However, most of the time I keep my blinds pulled up and my desk looks out to the lobby where I can see my residents. In the lobby we also have a nice fireplace and a television.
What do you listen to at work? Pandora… always! Or I listen to my residents socializing in the lobby. My stations on Pandora currently: P!nk Radio, Katy Perry Radio, The Beatles Radio, Country Pop Radio and Green Day Radio. I also occasionally listen to Podcasts while I work. “This American Life” is my favorite.
What is your favorite to-do list manager? Google calendar and making notes in my phone and on paper. Nothing too fancy!
What is your work schedule? Officially, I work during office hours, which are 8-5. However, that rarely happens or stays consistent. If I am up handling an issue at 4 in the morning, most likely, I will not be in my office at 8 a.m. I tend to do a lot of work at night, with student programs, student meetings, issues, etc. My residents and students are active at night, which usually causes me to respond at night.
Besides your phone and computer, what’s one gadget you can’t live without? I don’t know if you consider this a gadget, but my Nalgene water bottle or my bag I carry around. You can’t really call it a purse, because it is huge, but I love it! It’s a Longchamp and it’s red… I need a new one. I can fit all kinds of stuff in it! I drink tons of water and my Nalgene goes everywhere I go. I like to put stickers all over it!
PC or Mac? Mac all the way!! There are so many things with media I can do on my Mac…they also do not get viruses and are awesome machines!
Favorite workday snacks Diet soda (although I am trying to lay off of them and take it to only one a day), grapes, pistachios, chex mix, popcorn… I am trying to be healthy! However, I love our Commons Market here in Housing.