Well, it's time for another round of "Hopkins Cribs" blog entries from Hopkins Interactive! After having written about my double in AMR I last year, I'll write about my much luxurious on-campus living quarters this year. I live in a four-person suite in McCoy Hall, a dorm that houses mostly sophomores and that has four-person suites, each of which has a kitchenette, a bathroom, and either two doubles or a double and two singles. As I've mentioned in previous blog entries this year (such as one that I wrote in October about the "odd" items we have in our suite), my three suitemates are my friends Miriam, Nian, and Zainab; our suite has a double and and two singles, and Zainab and I share the double. Since describing a suite with multiple rooms is (obviously) more complex than describing a single bedroom, I've broken up this entry into sections. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the tour!
I. THE ENTRANCE
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Let's start by looking at the main door of our suite from the hallway. As you can see, it's decorated according to the theme for our wing, which is the movie Finding Nemo! The second photo is of the same door, as seen from the kitchenette inside our suite.
II. THE KITCHENETTE
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Anyway, back to the hallway, where we're looking at the Nemo-esque suite door. Let's open it and see what's inside. Our first view is of the main wall of the suite's kitchenette. In the world of McCoy 512-land, this wall serves as an unofficial bulletin board. Miriam, Nian, Zainab, and I post our schedules on that wall in order for us to have an idea where we are at different times during the day; the four of us also post schedules for the Collegetown Shuttle, the Homewood-JHMI shuttle, and Hopkins intramural sports. Hmm, by the way, what's that to our immediate right? Do you see that? Yeah, that's a cabinet that Nian received as a hand-me-down from an upperclassman friend of hers (by the way, upperclassmen can serve as great sources of cheap/free furniture); we use it to store extra food, as well as to serve as a support for our rice cooker and toaster oven. If we walk towards our right, we get to have a better view of the kitchenette's stovetop burner, sink, cabinets, and mini refrigerator; every suite in McCoy Hall has these. In addition, my suitemates and I have a microwave oven and a coffee maker in our kitchenette.
III. THE BATHROOM
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In looking around the kitchenette, we notice an open door by the mini refrigerator, and we see that it leads to a bathroom! After having lived in AMR I last year and using communal bathrooms, one of my favorite things about living in McCoy Hall is having a bathroom that I share only with my suitemates. I'm not saying that the communal bathroom experience in AMR I was horrible (in fact, I thought otherwise), but this luxury is a nice improvement in standards of living from last year. The con about having a bathroom that's only for my suitemates and me is that we have to clean it ourselves -- at least we're cleaning our own messes only, though!
IV. THE "CRIBS" VIDEO
V. THE BEDROOM
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After looking around the bathroom, we notice that right across the hall is the door to one of the three bedrooms in McCoy 512. We open the door and realize that this bedroom is the double in McCoy 512, for two desks and two wardrobes greet us. We take a look at the desks and the wardrobes, and then we shift our gaze to the bed next to one of the wardrobes. This is Zainab's bed. We then look across the room at the other bed. Yes, that's my bed and yes, I have the same bedsheet set as Zainab. (We didn't plan it! It's just a coincidence. Seriously.)
VI. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
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Before I close this entry, I just want to show you a few items in my room. First of all, at the middle the windowsill is an aloe plant that Zainab brought to Hopkins at the beginning of the year; some of the things on my side of the windowsill include my alarm clock and a crab-shaped stuffed animal that I bought at the Inner Harbor at the beginning of last year. In addition, I have a K-shaped ornament that I tied to the cord of the Venetian window blind on my side of the room. (I closed the blind before taking a picture of the ornament, so that you could see the ornament better.) Hanging on the wall right above my pillow is a Hopkins pennant that I've had since the beginning of last year, and some of the photos and artwork that I've posted on the wall next to my bed include the following: (a) a large "thank you" card made from poster board that tutees in JHU Tutorial Project made for the Filipino Students Association (after we demonstrated and taught the children some simple steps of the folk dance tinikling), (b) a map of Connecticut (my home state), and (c) photos of pointe shoes and piano keys, along with a painting of two salsa dancers. Also, on the edge of my desk's bookshelf, I've taped three valentines that I received from my friends Mary, Miriam, and Zainab on Valentine's Day this year. Last, but not least, above my desk is a poster I made to advertise the CSC Dance Program (a community service organization that teaches dance after school to elementary school students) whenever we try to recruit new members at student organization fairs.
With that said, that concludes my tour of McCoy 512. I hope you enjoyed it!
Kate, this room has to be so much nicer, especially considering how small yours was last year.
Posted by: Jackie | March 28, 2008 at 11:16 AM
I thought I was looking at one side of the room with the beds. The posters, color scheme, etc. are identical. You guys must be good roommates. :)
Posted by: JHU_Stefanie | March 28, 2008 at 06:54 PM