by Enedina Perez
Photography by Starr Carroll
A black light, surfboard, aquarium, various posters and pictures are just a few essentials that are found in the rooms of some University of La Verne residents.
These students chose to create their own living environment in a way that best suits them.
Veronica Mendez, a junior physical education/athletic training major, and roommate Adriana Macias, a junior psychology major, decided to decorate their room in Stu-Han with abstract posters, including an alien one, along with over 500 glow in the dark additional stars and planets, shining all around the room with a coordinating black light.
Mendez, who has been living on campus for three years, but is living with Macias for the first time, wanted her room to look different from the previous years’.
Both Mendez and Macias wanted to decorate their room as having a different atmosphere from school.
“We are in class all day,” said Macias. “There is time to do homework, and then there is time to have fun and relax.”
Mendez even commented that the abstract posters on their walls helped her concentrate while studying.
Macias also mentioned that their decorating style was not planned at all, it was just something that they thought they should do because it reflects their personalities.
“They are our personalities that people don’t really see during the day,” said Macias.
Wilson Ling, a freshman business major, and his roommate Jon Castle, a freshman business accounting major, also decorated their room in Brandt as a representation of their personalities.
Their room is divided into the soccer section, which is Castle’s side, and the surfing section, which is Ling’s side. Both are expressing their interests in sports through various pictures, such as a World Cup USA ’94 poster, surfing waves shots, and even an O’Neill sign on their walls.
“I like surfing a lot,”said Ling. “I was like an addict this summer.”
Even though they have their own sections, both Ling and Castle are surrounded by other belongings. Some of these additional belongings are a USA flag, which is placed in the top center of their room, along with a white Reilly surfboard and a black light.
“It is our happy place,” said Castle.
Ling, who also enjoys soccer, mentioned that there were not any conflicts when they were deciding how to decorate their room. On the contrary, he is pleased with the way their room looks.
“These [surfing and soccer] are two of my favorite sports, so I got the best of both worlds,” said Ling.
Apparently, he is not the only one who likes the room. According to Ling, both he and Castle receive compliments from other students.
Besides serving as a place for them to study and relax, their room also serves as a place where they hold movie nights.
This is why, aside from talking about the wall hangings, Castle also talked about the extra furniture that they have for their guests.
Some of this furniture, includes spare pillows, bean bags and two fans.
Apart from these residents, who decorated their rooms in a different, and unique way, there are others who decorate it in a way that reminds them of their home.
This was the case for junior Gabriela Ortega, a marketing major, and her roommate, junior Kathy Franco, a psychology major.
Their room in the Oaks consists of an entertainment center, placed in the center of the room, which includes a television, VCR, and stereo system and an aquarium with 28 small fish.
“I have an aquarium at my house in La Puente, so I wanted to feel more like at home by bringing one to my dorm room at school,” said Ortega.
Their room walls also have a variety of humorous cartoon drawings, which were made by Franco.
Although Ortega appreciates the carpeting and the air conditioning that the Oaks offers its residents, she felt that the drawback was having a smaller room from the one she used to live in last year in Stu-Han.
This is the reason why they both decided to make their room seem as roomy as they possibly could. In order to accomplish this, they lofted their beds as high as possible. Their desks and dressers were placed under the beds.
The style of having each other’s furniture parallel to one another gives them the space that both Ortega and Franco wanted.
To make their rooms a home away from home, the students put effort into decorating that makes them comfortable and reflects who they are.
Enedina Perez
