Ah…boys.

The smell of sweat, genital jokes, junk food, and dirt.

Or, the smell of Calvin Klein cologne, beards (or no beard), chopsticks, and Hemingway.

It’s got to be one or the other. Or somewhere in between.

I’ve seen so many movies and TV shows portray college boys – or bad “men,” as one or the other. They either remain the way they did in high school or they magically become Stephen Fry (not the best example, but a great man anyway.)

But living in a residence hall wing with 25 boys and only three girls gives you the chance to see the gray and magenta in the either-or.

Some of these boys remind me of the ones I knew in high school, except smarter. It’s still video games, food, sleep, and sports. But out of nowhere come these tidbits I overlooked or didn’t believe could be found in boys.

I’ve seen them play “nerdy” card games with finesse, carve wood, explain cuts of animals, speak warmly of loved ones, have knowledge of media, a “wanderlust” for reading, and so much more.

I’ve seen boys in some sort of rose-colored and intricately-detailed-glass, 3D-hologram way and it takes me a moment to process the notion of it all.

BOYS ARE MORE THAN LOOKS?! SMELLS! FLATULENCY! SPORTS? GUNS? BOY THINGS??!?!

Boys have interests, skills, thoughts, feelings, misfortunes, questions, and even some answers.

It’s something we all know PEOPLE have, but not something I let myself attribute to boys.

Living on this wing seemed really weird and off-putting in the beginning. Now I’m weird and off-putting, but I’ve got some of the coolest gentlemen as neighbors and they’ve been gracious enough to keep me around.

I guess I see what the appeal is in college boys.

They’re everything you expect a boy to be…and then some.

*And to those who say you can’t be friends platonically with a boy – YOU ARE WRONG (most of the time.)

Just live with a couple of them and you’ll enjoy the platonic-ness of it all.

*This is not boy praise – just boy awareness.