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Notes from the dorm

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Backspace, control, alt, delete: this is the never- ending rhythm of the infamous process of applying to a Canadian university.

Pop by the library and you will find row upon row of graduating students at Bishop Strachan peering over their laptops.

Girls stare blankly at online application pages for schools around the world that bear the same title: welcome to undergraduate admissions.

Every girl's face tells a tale of many sleepless nights. One part of the application, in particular, is on everyone's mind: the 300-word essay that asks: 'Who are you and what would you contribute to our school?'

'I don't know who I am yet, that's why I'm applying to university. I'll figure out what I can do for the school once I get in,' jokes a student as she rushes off to the school guidance office in the hope of some relief.

It is February, the coldest month of the year, where temperatures collapse to a staggering minus 17 degrees Celsius and students are trapped indoors contemplating their futures. Look out the window and it is hard to find any inspiration amid the piles of snow and grey skyline that overshadows Toronto, Canada.

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