RAPline reach a peer helpline: Where everyone doesn't know your name?

Although only 180 people call per year, the support group's dedicated staff'RAP's on. "You've reached the Reach-A-Peer Helpline," an anonymous staffer says on the other end of the telephone line. "We offer information, support and referrals." Better known to students as simply the RAPLine, the student-run support service provides Penn students with the opportunity to speak with peers about their problems. Open seven days a week from 9 p.m. - 2 a.m., the RAPLine has one of the most dedicated staffs on campus, especially when one realizes that the group took only 180 calls last academic year -- a number equivalent to less than a single call per night. "The people calling have all these jumbled thoughts in their head," RAPLine President and College senior Grace Kao said. "We want to help them organize them." RAPLine staffers are trained to present potential solutions to problems so that callers can find the solutions themselves. "There are those things you say only in your own mind. You don't want to talk to your parents, you don't want to talk to your friends, you don't want to talk to your dog," Kao said. "You want someone who is completely objective. That's what we do." Every night, at least two of the RAPLine's 60 staffers arrive 15 minutes early in order to make sure everything is running smoothly. The hotline has opened on time every night since its inception at the beginning of the fall 1991 semester. Should there be any problems -- either technically or emotionally -- there is always a backup staffer who wears a beeper and is on call for the night. Ultimately, if there is a serious problem, Kate Ward-Gaus, the hotline's adviser, backs up the backup. She wears a beeper every night in case of an emergency. In addition to taking phone calls, RAPLine staffers are also trained to respond to Penn Peer letters, a service the RAPLine launched two years ago that allows students to anonymously send letters through the hotline's Web site to which RAPLine staffers will reply. Traditionally, 25 to 40 percent of all calls to the hotline fall into the relationship category, with romantic relationships dominating these types of calls. The second most common type of call falls under the category of loneliness. "We don't have all the answers," Kao said. "We are not trained psychologists." Wednesday and Saturday nights seem to be the busiest nights of the week for the hotline, though Kao could not explain this phenomenon. The anonymity of both callers and staffers is the hotline's most important feature, allowing callers to speak their mind without worrying about any potential social repercussions of publicly sharing one's feelings. Only executive board members are known publicly as RAPLine staffers, since they man the hotline less frequently than non-officers. "You walk a fine line between having prominent publicity and compromising the anonymity of the members," said Vice President for Publicity Angela Kuo, a College senior. To advertise, RAP Line staffers put up balloons and posters. They also slip quarter-page sheets under dormitory doors or into mailboxes. Currently there is also a display in The Book Store window for the hotline. The balloons have proven effective in increasing the number of calls to the hotline, Ward-Gaus said. But the Student Activities Council-funded program insists that it needs more money to properly publicize its activities. After only being allotted $2,644 this year, the group claims that it needs $6,846 to raise its programming to an optimal level. The publicity budget is also strained by the need to advertise Penn Peer in addition to the RAPLine. "Physically, you can only fit so much on a poster," said RAPLine Treasurer Rick Engel, a College senior. He said the fact that many posters must emphasize both services is frustrating. Despite its financial gripes, the RAPLine must also contend with the social stigma against people who utilize such a hotline. "I wish more students felt comfortable with the RAPLine," another new freshman staffer said. And Kao insisted that "it's a completely safe environment." Even with its financial and publicity difficulties, the RAPLine continues to have one of the most dedicated staffs of all student programs on campus, especially due to its rigorous training. "We don't pay them. They work a lot of [volunteer] hours for the University," Ward-Gaus explained, adding that she takes pride in displaying a "maternal" instinct toward her staffers. RAPLine staffers must be fully dedicated to the program. They have to endure an intense application process and an even more intense training process before they are finally allowed to staff the hotline. But before even being accepted, all applicants must fill out a six-page application and then pass two interviews. About 50 percent of applicants were accepted this year -- a record high -- to replace a large number of staffers lost in last year's graduating class. Beginning with a whirlwind 19-hour training weekend held at the beginning of every year, new members learn core listening skills and enjoy the opportunity to get to know each other well. After that, there are eight weekly 3-hour training sessions in which different University groups conduct presentations describing their services. This allows staffers to refer callers to on- and off-campus resources for potential solutions to their problems. But before being able to staff the hotline, one must pass an exit interview consisting of a sample RAPLine call designed to test the potential staffer's ability to successfully establish a rapport with the fictitious caller. The training does not end once a staffer passes the exit interview. Every year, all returning staffers must attend a refresher training weekend to ensure they follow proper procedures. Even when a staffer begins to work the hotline, the anonymity can be very difficult for students who cannot tell anyone -- save their roommates -- that they are members. Also, staffers can only discuss calls with other RAPLine members. As a result, many staffers have become good friends. "There are moments of terror," Kao said. But "after a while, it definitely dies down," she added. Yet when you help someone, "it is the greatest feeling in the whole world," said a new freshman staffer who recently completed her first night on the hotline. But the ultimate question, according to Engel, is, "Did they get the help they needed? Did they feel better?" "You don't really know," he said.