CA walks the line between instructors, cherubs

By Charlotte Ryan

Katherine Driessen, a cherub from Columbia Md., was taken to the hospital by Rachel Stults and Kristin Ellertson, 19, a community associate, with a circular red rash on her thigh. They left having bonded for four hours in the emergency room.

“It was like having your best friend take you to the hospital,” Driessen said.

Emergency room visits are rare, but Ellertson, a Medill sophomore, has many other responsibilities. She is in charge of making sure everyone is safe and accounted for, including taking attendance at all mandatory events. It is her job to find the missing cherub who never woke up and put him or her on the spit list. Ellertson also organizes and plans group competitions and parties in Jones Residential College’s Great Room.

When cherubs lock themselves out of their rooms, Ellertson is there to let them in, but only after they pay her a $3 fee.

When cherubs check in late at night, miss deadlines, cross the street without using the cross walk or are late for class, Ellertson can spit list them. Those cherubs on the spit list must wake up at 6 a.m. on Sunday to perform trivial tasks.      

Ellertson was never on the spit list as a cherub, but had dreams of doing spit list duty as a CA. A Delta Zeta sorority member, Ellertson wanted to teach the spit listed cherubs the Northwestern fight song and give them a tour of the sorority and fraternity quad, “the important sites,” she said.

Ellertson applied to be a CA because she wanted to share the experiences she had as a cherub in 2005.  Her favorite activity was Rotating Rewrites because it taught her how to write under pressure, which helped her as a writer for the Summer Northwestern.

Kristin Ellertson takes a moment to pose with Ivana Dukonovic in downtown Chicago.

“She writes good articles for the Summer Northwestern,” said Jayson Weingarten, a cherub from Los Angeles. “It is good to know that she knows what she is talking about.”

Ellertson’s favorite part of being a CA was getting to know each cherub.

“I didn’t realize I would become such good friends with them,” she said.

Ellertson said the small age difference of two years made her close to the cherubs. Her ability to have fun at the parties and “get the ball rolling,” made her very approachable.

On the first night the cherubs played several “get to know you” games where Ellertson broke the ice with funny questions.

Lynn Zukerman, a cherub from Piedmont Calif., said Ellertson isn’t just the person living with you and enforcing the rules, but she is there to help you through the trend story and ease the fears of college applications.