Rave Time

And the second year of my university career is complete. Wow.
What a year. And it flew by so friggin fast. As usual.
Kinda sad actually. I really don't want university to be over because it is amazing. Yes, I love school.
But I have a theory of my love for school. Here goes:
I love architecture. Obviously.
I'm studying architecture. So therefore, I'm gonna love my studies.
BUT.
If I was studying architecture at a different university, ie. Waterloo or Carelton, would my love for school be so strong?
I think not.
Location, location, location.
I've been to the campuses of Waterloo and Carleton and U of T [the only universities in Ontario that offer architecture are Waterloo, Carelton, U of Toronto, and Ryerson]. Waterloo is a friggin snore. The campus for the architecture program at Waterloo is actually based in Cambridge and it's old-people-area central. BORING.
Carleton - in Ottawa, and I'm not a big fan of Ottawa and especially not a fan of the Carleton campus with its crappy small-sized dorms and association with Canadian politics. Again, snore.
U of T has an amazing campus and whenever I visit [I walk through it every Sunday on my way to church] I have this desire to be a part of it. BUT U of T has a really really bad architecture program. Quite a few of my profs make fun of it constantly.
So, the reason for my love for my program is greatly related to its location in downtown Toronto. It's right in the centre of Canadian civilization. Toronto's the biggest city in Canada and clearly has the most economic, cultural, and political power over any other Canadian city.
And Ryerson is smack dab in the middle of Toronto, Yonge and Dundas. Seriously doesn't get better than this.
If Ryerson were in a different city, I would probably be pretty angry with my school. Because they really suck for certain things such as administration, the architecture school building itself, and scheduling.
But we put up with it. Why? Because all the awesome things around us distract us. We're a bunch ADD stricken people.
The architecture students are infatuated with the plethura of buildings, the fashion students are obsessed with the numerous stores and fashion events, the photography and media students are surrounded by events and galas constantly, engineering students have a sweet building and facilities, the theatre/acting students are absorbed into the different media everywhere from CityTV to MuchMusic to CTV to CBC and Global, the urban planning and geography have an entire city to analyze and explore, and the tourism students are in a huge area for tourism.
So, is Ryerson a great school? That's up for debate. But it's location is definitely a huge asset to its success.