What are the weirdly interesting things in your dorm room that you just couldn’t leave at home?

What did you bring to college?

And I am not asking about the boring stuff that makes you feel like a responsible adult: bedsheets, hangers, storage space… no. I’m talking about the fun stuff. What are the things you brought for room decoration, things you brought as reminders of home, or random things that just happened to have hopped into your suitcase and are now enjoying living in New York City without paying any rent?

What did you bring to college that happens to be a piece of you that you just could not leave at home?

In this filial series of RoomHop articles, we will visit Barnumbia’s students’ rooms with one question in mind: what are the three things in your room that tell us a bit about who you are? It’s all about unraveling the lore, you know.

And what is a better way to start an article series than by talking about my favorite person on this campus? Myself. With that being said, I present to you: three things in my room that I just had to bring with me to college or else it wouldn’t feel the same.

1. An annotated copy of We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo.

Being the biggest fan of this piece of Bulawayo’s work myself, there is rarely a week in my life that I do not think about We Need New Names. However, having this specific copy of the book in my possession makes it even more significant to me. Given to me as a goodbye gift by one of the most inspiring people in my boarding school, it has both Dutch and English annotations in her own handwriting that I am so very fond of seeing, even if I don’t understand what the ones written in Dutch say. Later annotating the book myself made me feel like we are in a silent conversation despite being separated by rivers, seas, and now the Atlantic Ocean.

2. A rather rough-looking pack of Kilimanjaro tea.

Please excuse the box’s appearance, it’s been through a lot. The thought of leaving Tanzania after two years of my life there made it impossible to imagine my life without Kilimanjaro tea in it. And that is the story of how this cardboard box of tea ended up taking planes from Tanzania to Belarus, and now to the United States. Now every cup of this bewilderingly good tea I brew in my dorm with a view of Broadway makes me feel like I am still there: enjoying weirdly intellectual conversations over dinner with my friends from all over the world, listening to the sounds of monkeys and the crickets, and relishing the feeling of belonging as the sunset’s simmering at the horizon and painting our campus all shades pink.

3. Meet Alexander: a charming pig in an even more charming costume of a bee.

I love Alexander. He’s soft, squishy, and most importantly, he’s got the rizz. After all, who wouldn’t fall for this cute little pig that loves bees so much it’s even dressed up as one? Just like the Kilimanjaro tea box, this guy has been through a lot of traveling and trials of life. From being squished into overpacked suitcases to enduring the attacks of my boarding school roommate who just couldn’t stand the pig having more fans than herself, you best believe he’s been through it all. Although sometimes I wake up with him having fallen off my bed onto the floor, you can be assured that Alexander is a highly revered member of my room and all guests have to greet him.

That’s it for my marvelous life stories told by three random things in my college dorm room. Stay tuned for the continuation of this series and feel free to hit up Bwog’s Tips if you would like to be featured in such an article!

Images Of Things by Author