Mercado’s statements closely resonated with the comments made by Nnenna Opara, a Duke University senior and West Campus RA. Nnenna said that when she was an RA on East Campus, she saw many of her freshman residents suffer from the pressure of fitting in. She stated that on many occasions, she would find some of her residents doing things in groups that they normally wouldn’t do by themselves, like drinking alcohol, behaving inappropriately, or laughing at derogatory jokes. She recalled that one night a resident came to her room crying, telling her that she had made a big mistake. After listening to all the details, Nnenna said that she believed the resident had made the mistake due to peer pressure. In addition, Nnenna stated that another resident came to her frustrated about a friend who had experienced alcohol poising. The resident, Nnenna explained, expressed that she had tried to convince the friend to stop drinking; however, the friend did not listen to her advice. The resident could not understand why her friend had ignored her. Furthermore, Nnenna mentioned that she believed many of her residents felt pressured to join student organizations, primarily because many of them had not yet formed solid peer groups. In particular, she described that most of her residents were interested in joining fraternities and sororities.
