DA Cribz: Caitlin Murphy

For prospective students, the dorm room can often make or break an impression of the school. Every year, two upperclassmen volunteer to be the model rooms for incoming tours. This year, Caitlin Murphy ’11 volunteered her Rosenwald 1 single for the important job.

The decision to showcase her room was not entirely her own; she hoped the responsibility would motivate her to keep the room organized.

“My mom said that a clean room can give me a clean mind, and hopefully good grades,” said Murphy. With this mantra in mind, Murphy set up her eclectic room this fall, and stylized it in her own unique way.

The room is characterized by the mismatched yet fitting attire spread around its entirety. On the floor lie handmade Bolivian rugs that help set the color scheme for the room.

One wall is plastered with sketches of dresses and other outfits that Murphy put together herself. On an adjacent wall, Murphy’s modern art postcard collection is organized chronologically. The other posters help accent the general pink and green theme of her room.

“My record player is my favorite part of my room. I have a lot of records at home, so it is a really nice reminder of my family,” said Murphy.

Among other items, Murphy keeps a FroYo lamp, a window shutter that was repurposed into a functioning chalkboard, and a Lady Gaga coffee table book from her sister, Grace Murphy ’11.

“I take a lot of things from different places. I like to put them together and give them a new home,” said Murphy.

Murphy recently repositioned her pink and green clad bed against the windowsill, allowing for more floor space. Murphy is an avid dancer, and she likes using the extra room to choreograph pieces.

This year’s tour season went without too many odd stories about touring families, but Murphy remembers one in particular.

“One day, I came back to my room, and I saw a tour in the wrong room. I went to tell them to come into mine, and found the parents going through her underwear drawer!” said Murphy. From then on, Murphy made sure to write “Tour Room” in large, capital letters across her whiteboard to alert the tour guides.

For Murphy, being the tour room has been an overall great experience. “The families are always so nervous when they come in [that they’re bothering me], but it isn’t an imposition for me. I just have to remember to make my bed in the morning!” said Murphy.