The Shoe box

Is it really 87 square feet?" gasps Alexandra Smith '09 when she hears the dimensions of her dorm room. Smith, who has one of the smallest rooms on campus, has put the space to unbelievably efficient use. "It helps that I'm really organized," she said. "I feel if I wasn't an organized person there wouldn't be room to stand."

The obvious assumption is that Smith ended up in this room because of a poor draw time, but in reality her time was not so bad. "My draw time was actually in the middle, but I chose this room because it was one of the last rooms available in the slums." Knowing full well that her room would be small, there was one thing Smith avoided doing until she got back to campus two weeks ago. "I purposefully didn't look at the room before the summer," she said. "I just assumed the worst."

With just enough space to fit the University-supplied furniture, Smith has made the room entirely livable and even comfortable. "The colors I chose have really helped," she said, referring to the yellow and blue that dominate her curtains and bedding. Her walls are decorated but she was quick to point out that she didn't hang too much because, as she said, "I didn't want to feel trapped."

While small, the size of the room has not brought her down, "I kind of made a joke out of it with my friends," Smith said. "I've made the best of it."