Freshmen Sydney Crowley, left, and Mariah Gaines were awarded first place in the Office of Residence Life’s room decorating contest.
“My favorite color is blue, and [Mariah’s] is gold, which came together perfectly. We’re teammates on the volleyball team, so we’re used to working together,” Crowley said. “When it came to buying things, we ended up going with having identical stuff.”
Crowley, a marketing major, and Gaines, who is studying criminal justice, live in Ottawa House West.
“Having someplace comfortable to go will definitely help us throughout the whole year,” Crowley said.
The Office of Residence Life hosted the contest during the first week of the semester to showcase the personality, school spirit and unique aesthetic of Rockets living on campus. Students could enter by uploading photos of their decorated room through an online submission form.
Three finalists were featured on the Office of Residence Life’s Instagram page, @ToledoResLife, where the Rocket community voted for the final rankings. Winners were announced on Tuesday.
Second place was awarded to Parks Tower residents Anna McClure, left, and Madie Franz.
“My favorite color is blue, and UToledo’s color is blue, so Madie and I used this as inspiration for our dorm room,” said McClure, a freshman studying radiation therapy. “We wanted it to feel like home, so we added cute lights and decorations to make it feel more personalized. We had a lot of people come to help us put our room together, however, it still took about three hours. We wanted it to be perfect for us, so we were willing to put a lot of time into it.”
Third place went to Rylee McKitrick in Ottawa House East.
Gaines and Crowley received a $100 gift card to the UToledo Bookstore. McClure and Franz received a $75 gift card and McKitrick received a $50 gift card for their respective second- and third-place finishes.
