Eclectic styles clash and similar styles merge as students endeavor to settle into what will become their home for the next nine months.
As a resident advisor, Allana Krolikowski, enjoys a luxury not afforded to most students. The junior biomedical sciences major has her own room in Clinton Hall in the Governors complex.
Perhaps it is the privacy, perhaps it is the spaciousness, but Krolikowski's room, where she sits at a computer with her door open, exudes vivacious warmth.
Pink curtains hang from the window and warm the room along with a pink and green carpet and a green cushioned futon that sits along the wall.
"I lived (in Governors) last year too. Before I lived with a roommate. The girl that lived (in this room) before had curtains so it gave me the idea," Krolikowski said.
A few more glances around Krolikowski's room reveal even more homey touches.
"I made that," Krolikowski said of the doily perched on top of her radio. "I like crocheting."
Krolikowski said she wanted to make her room as people-friendly as possible, her set up allows her to sit at her desk and do work while watching people walk by. Krolikowski also said her role as an RA might be a factor in the condition of her room.
"Sometimes I feel like I have to be held to a different standard of cleanliness now because I'm an RA."
Some of her decorating ideas have more to do with function than fashion, like the paper cut-outs of quotes that adorn the room.
"A lot of them cover stuff that people did on the walls," she said of the holes and marks left by previous occupants.
Unlike her residents, who decorate their rooms with the need to save space, Krolikowski said her concerns were much less spacial.
" I don't need to space save, I have enough," she said as she looked over to her closet space. "I even get two closets, too."
While Krolikowski's laid-back vibe matches the cozy feel to her very girlie room, Jordan Hayes, a freshman undecided major, and his roommate, freshman engineering major Rafael Garcia, spend their days in a room that is well on its way to becoming what some perceive to be a typical male college dorm room.
As Hayes lounges on his bed, an enormous poster of two girls kissing along with some posters with raunchier images are posted above him; Garcia is engrossed in a PlayStation game moving across the screen.
And what would a male freshman's dorm room be without a lava lamp and a black light?
Nothing, as far as Hayes is concerned, as he points out his "stuff for when it's dark" and speaks of his plans to get more.
The guys were all too happy to return to their PlayStation screen as they threw out the one consideration that was most important during their decorating process.
" Make it as much like home as possible," Hayes said.
Rena Katz, a freshman pharmacy major, peeked out from underneath the covers of her ample bedding in her room in Goodyear Hall as she describes her decorating motivation. Katz said her mother was a key player on her design team.
"Me and my mom were petrified of the cold, so we were going to do curtains and rugs," she said in reference to her beige shag rug and brown and beige curtains.
"When it gets cold I don't want my feet to go on the floor," Katz said looking at her shag rug.
Her roommate, Kara Colosimo, a freshman undecided major, said she is pleased that she doesn't have the same space issues as those living in other dorms.
"I think they're bigger compared to North," Colosimo said of her Goodyear dorm room.
While some freshmen are learning to live with strangers for the first time, other students have the luxury of settling into a new living situation with a friend.
"I've known my roommate since my freshman year," said Andre Colquhoun, a junior computer engineering major. "It's like we totally lucked out with each other."
Together, they're in the middle of creating something of a bachelor's paradise.
The focal point of the room is the entertainment area. A Sony Play Station 2, a DVD player and television are all conveniently located in the center of the room, beckoning any males within reach to gather around.
But the male Mecca vibe doesn't end there.
"The best part is how I have my side set up," Colquhoun said. "I can do everything from my bed."
The refrigerator is just an arm's length away, and when it is time to hit the books or Instant Messenger, the keyboard is right under the bed.
"This is the lazy man's ideal spot," Colquhoun said.
While returning students have learned the ropes and, like Colquhoun, are in the process of perfecting using their space conveniently, the freshman priority is apparent in most of their d?(c)cor choices.
Amy Bird, a freshman chemical engineering major living in Governors, points out the things that she is most pleased to have brought with her.
"Mostly my pictures and my blanket," she said holding up a quilted blanket with bright colors arranged in star patterns set on a black background. "My mom quilts and she made this for me."
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
