They’re not your doctors, although they give you what you need to survive — in your residence hall. They are the fearless desk receptionists who dutifully answer your call when you need to retrieve an anticipated package or have locked yourself out.

According to some seasoned DRs, the job is about more than swiping cards. It’s also a matter of safety because of Marquette’s urban location.

“We can’t let just anyone in,” said Kelly Petrauskas, an Abbottsford Hall DR and a junior in the College of Health Sciences.

“It’s a lot more than you see,” added Corrine Fournier, a DR in Straz Tower and a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences. “There’s offering supplies to the students who live here.”

Fournier said other duties include logging who goes in and out (especially during fire drills) and being in charge of keys.

Of course, being a DR can lead to some interesting experiences, too. Fournier said she thinks it’s weird when residents whom she’s never seen before come up and talk to her like they’ve known her for years.

Molly Van Abel, a DR in Carpenter Tower and sophomore in the College of Nursing, said her most bizarre memory was when residents came out dressed in costume on a weekend that wasn’t Halloween.

“It was fun to see all the costumes and Jokers (from The Dark Knight),” she said. “Kids don’t want you to know they’re going to parties, but we’re not naïve — we’re students too.”

So what do they do for fun on the job? You’ve probably heard them listening to music a lot. One of the most popular albums amongst the female DRs interviewed is “Fearless,” the new Taylor Swift CD. Cobeen Hall DR and College of Arts & Sciences sophomore Owen O’Riordan listens to Deer Hoof, Beastie Boys and The Flaming Lips, while Tiffany Sumlin, a Schroeder Hall DR and College of Arts & Sciences senior, said she likes to listen to the radio, particularly hip-hop and stations like 103.7 KISS FM.

So what happens if your roommate falls asleep with the door locked while you’re in the bathroom, or you come back from a weekend at home and realize your room key is sitting on your kitchen table? Watch out for Sumlin because, in most cases she said, she will secretly laugh at you. If you live in Carpenter, you can feel slightly less embarrassed because Van Abel said she gets locked out all the time and is understanding. And O’Riordan said he even had an interesting story of his own. At the start of the year, he was locked out in the middle of the night.

“We had to come a week early for DR training, and I had to go downstairs in my underwear to get the key,” O’Riordan said.

But the main thing many DRs said they love about their job is the social atmosphere.

According to O’Riordan, being a DR is a job of epic proportions.

“We’re pretty much superheroes,” O’Riordan said.