Throughout the semester, I have been struggling to describe the CityLAB Semester in Residence experience to other people. My go-to is something along the lines of calling it an interdisciplinary project-based semester where you’re next to City Hall from 9:30 - 4:30 every day, but that really doesn’t even begin to sum up the experience and the entire semester. I applied to CityLAB while in Australia on exchange and freaking out about my future; I love having two majors (French and Peace Studies), but it also means that I could follow two very different, but equally fulfilling, careers. When I got the email explaining CityLAB and asking for applications, I viewed it as an opportunity to have experience in what a career following my Peace Studies major into municipal government could look like, but it has become so much more than that. Everyday I learn something new, whether it is in one of our dialogue and design courses, in our project meetings, or just in conversation with other students. We have the opportunity to critically think about issues facing Hamilton and actually do something about it. We have unwavering support from each other and from our instructors who have helped us not only with assignments and projects, but with things we are passionate about. Things like, creating a workshop on police discrimination to creating a podcast for the Semester in Residence students - and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We have so many incredible opportunities throughout the semester to apply our learning and make connections throughout the City that I cannot possibly try to summarize. It has been so amazing to meet everyone involved with the CityLAB Semester in Residence. Before the semester started, I was looking forward to meeting other passionate and driven people, but I could not imagine the reality of the complex, thoughtful, and intelligent people I was able to work with. The semester has had its ups and downs, its frustrations and its successes, but the students’ policy of “work hard play hard” was the perfect counterbalance to all of the work we accomplished. When I think of CityLAB, I think of our projects and assignments, but I also think of all the hacky sack, bonfires, laughter and great memories.