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Life inside a student residence was once described by a friend of mine as a high school. A place where nobody acts their age and they’re all immature. I would beg to differ, the student residence is another entity unlike nothing I have ever experience, to describe its rich experience I will go into further detail.

As I write this within a luxurious student residence nestled in downtown Toronto's sprawling Church street area, i glance around as pretty university girls and the buildings management tend to their own matters around me. The floor I’m located on has a heavy red theme, windows to make up the walls to outside, swiveling chairs scatter a cool carpeted area as low round tables beckon study groups and individual to destroy their posture.

What is special about the student residence? It is a competition truly. Who dressed the nicest? Who has a job? Who does the most interesting things, gets people together, and has his/her shit together? Whoever these people are, the rest look up to them, admire them- hormones flood the biosphere, girls swoon to the alpha males, study birds fly to their nests, art students post their free-lance work to social media and people gather, inevitably.

In the student residence being productive is a challenge. Friends flock together everyday. The people around you influence you immensely, and alas mom and dad are nowhere to found. To break away from the comfort of friendship, which is ALWAYS available to you, you have to muster every ounce of your willpower and use it for your own excellence. You can easily skip all of your classes, hangout with friends all day living out on mom’s pension money paying for all of your rent and food.

A student residence is a place of revelation, where you grow in any direction that you could desire. It is not far too different from real life. Spoiled as some of these kids are, they are actively learning about themselves throughout every day. Peer pressure is more powerful than ever as testosterone fuels into these young men, setting them all off differently from each other.

- Fred Deakin