Have you ever wondered what life is like living on campus at the University of Manitoba? Sure you have! Whether it was waiting for a bus in the rain or trying to find somewhere to hang out during your three-hour break between classes, I’m sure you’ve thought, “Hey, it sure would be nice to live on campus right now.” Let me tell you, it sure is!

This is now my third year in residence and I wouldn’t change it for anything. Through my residence experiences, I have met so many diverse people, enjoyed the convenience of close classes, and have taken advantage of so many extra opportunities that the community has offered to me. Here is my daily life in a nutshell while living on our university’s campus.

I wake up at about 9 a.m. and text my friends to come eat with me at Pembina Hall. After a delicious breakfast and a few good laughs, I head to my first class, which conveniently, is only a five-minute walk away. After class, I head back to residence and take a mid-morning nap, enjoying the warmth and sunlight that we are surprisingly still graced with at this time of year. Lunch at Pembina Hall is busy and I listen to some hilarious stories about the shenanigans of last night’s outing at Wise Guys. I then get a few boring afternoon classes over with and head off to the gym. There I will meet up with a few friends whom I’ve met through a “gym buddies” program set up by the Resident Advisors in my building. After “sculpting the guns,” I head back to residence and sit around the lounge playing Mario Kart 64 with some fairly competitive floor-mates, until it’s time for all of us to go down for supper. For some reason, supper usually takes about an hour; not because the service is slow, but because I end up sitting and chatting with about three different tables as I eat each course of my meal. After supper, depending on the day of the week, I will either attend a PRAXIS meeting (a student-run volunteer group on campus) or an event in residence. Sometimes, I’ll go out to Wise Guys, head to the library (which is two minutes away), or just hang out with some people and watch a movie.

This is my life as a residence student on the University of Manitoba campus. Every day is something new and different: different programs, different people, and different experiences. I engage myself in various programs and events that make my experience at this university something more than just an education, and guess what? I get to wake up tomorrow and do it all over again!