La Chatelaine Residential Junior College

Arcot Road is always a mess with traffic, but we are right here at Number 1. Valasaravakkam has grown so much since we first started out. Being a residential college means there is always someone around, even late at night when the rest of the street goes quiet. The dorms have those long hallways that echo if you walk too fast. We spend a lot of time making sure the kitchen is running right because the students need their meals on time. It is a big responsibility having kids live here. Sometimes the plumbing acts up or a light bulb flickers in the study hall, and we have to get it fixed quickly. The front gate is where everyone gathers in the evenings. You can hear the buses shifting gears outside all day long. We have a lot of desks and chairs that have been moved around a hundred times. The staff room is usually full of half-finished tea cups and stacks of notebooks. It feels like a second home to most of us because we spend more time here than at our own houses. It isn't a flashy place, just a lot of concrete and sturdy walls that have held up well. We try to keep the noise down during study hours, but with so many young people, it's rarely completely silent. That is just how life is on Arcot Road for us. We're just keeping things moving along as best as we can every single day.