Residence: How Different Could It Be?

The year before I came to this university, I was in the Katimavik program living in a house with 11 other people traveling across Canada on a mere $3 a day pay. Residence ... how different could it be? Well a floor of all guys, a human sized hole in the wall, over $1000 in damage, a smelly man from another continent, and a don who couldn’t handle us ... how wrong could I be? The Katimavik people were all people like me, with at least some similar interests and comparable habits in terms of cleanliness, noisiness ... you get the picture?

Now to University. Of course I knew I was going to have tests in all my courses. But Residence life was definitely a test too. A test of how well my peers and I could function together in close quarters. Hockey nights on TV, late night parties, co-ed washrooms, hygienic differences, extreme music preferences -- residence was one of the most interesting experiences of my life. Not always pleasant, hardly ever easy, but interesting.

There's no choice but to become friendly to all different types of characters. Learning to live on my own with an eclectic range of human beings is definitely one of the biggest challenges that I have ever experienced. Selective listening and a simple smile and nod helped me to bite my tongue and make it through situations that I would have rather not been in. There was one good thing: when it came time to go home at Christmas, I appreciated it more than ever I had before.

I say one good thing, but actually there's another one, more important. I was forced to become my own individual being and understand what I believe in as a person. University gives you the opportunity to prove yourself and although temptations are around every corner, you learn how to stand up for yourself and your convictions and standards. I learned better how to deal with different kinds of people, and the limits of my ability to change or even influence what they do. By comparing myself with what sometimes seemed to be almost all the other people in the Residence, I also learned that one of the characteristics most important to me is moderation.

Life can be looked at as a series of doors you pass through, or pass by. Decide when to open them, and when to close them.