What's in Your Dorm?
By: Gavin Palmer, ASMS junior from Elmore County
The Alabama School of Math and Science (ASMS) is the only 100% residential school in Alabama. A special part of living here is making your dorm room look comely and unique. Each room is a scrapbook of students’ lives that displays their personalities and interests for all who enter. We asked students across the ASMS campus about the unique things they have in their rooms or used to decorate their space. Here’s what they shared!
Cash Tillman, a sophomore at ASMS from Mobile County, has 7 unique playbills mounted on his wall, including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Mrs. Doubtfire, SIX, BOOP!, Hamilton, Cabaret, and Wicked. Cash says he loves theatrical arts, and seeing them mounted reminds him of the friends back home he’s connected with through theater. Cash is currently cast in Sunnyside’s production of Alice by Heart.
Kelsie Crocker, a sophomore from Elmore County, has a written letter from her theater teacher hung up above her desk in her residence hall room. Theater is a significant part of Kelsie’s life and connects to her personality. Kelsie shares that knowing people back home still care for her warms her heart.
Kaylee Jones, a junior student from Barbour County and new to ASMS this year, used her creative juices to sculpt tiny race cars out of air-dry clay. She loves watching F-1 and even plans to purchase the F-1 Lego sets. She explains that her love for motorsports started around the 2014 Silverstone GP and grew into a hobby over time. She plans to pursue a career in sports marketing in hopes of working for a luxury automative company like Ferrari or McLaren.
Toprak Saylak, a junior from Baldwin County, has a Hot Wheels collection mounted on his wall. He shares his love for cars started when his father took him to a car show when he was little. Ever since, he’s been amassing a collection of Hot Wheels, and he dreams of someday buying a good car.
Daniel Zheng, a senior from Calhoun County, chose to share about his poster of Cristiano Ronaldo. Daniel says he considers Cristiano a major inspiration. He admires how Ronaldo worked for his success and sees him as a model for playing sports and for his life.
Arina Markina, a senior from Tuscaloosa County, has a cardboard cutout of Jake from State Farm. She, along with some other seniors, acquired him at last year’s Latin Fest in Mobile, AL. She expresses that she adores him because he represents a time when she connected and made friends with the rest of her junior class.
Sara Jeffrey, a junior returning from Baldwin County, decided to showcase an Abraham Lincoln head and Spam plushie. Sara acquired the Spam plushie when a man threw it off a float at a Mardi Gras parade. The Lincoln head was found on the side of the road and is proudly displayed in the windowsill. Sara says the objects make for great dorm room conversations when guests stop by.
Abraham Sagastume, a junior from Franklin County, nominated his meter-tall Monster can. Currently serving as a laundry basket, “this grail of an item” was won in a raffle hosted by ASMS graduate Novita Whillok during his sophomore year. Abraham calls it his most prized possession, and it serves as a luxurious dorm decoration as well as a great conversation starter.
Liora Abernathy, a sophomore from Geneva County, has small glass sculptures of a fish and sea turtle in her residence hall room. She describes that they were given to her by her father who was deployed in Afghanistan in her early childhood. Liora loves the ocean, and she says these gifts remind her that “to be loved is to be known.”
Alex McElroy, a sophomore from Mobile County, wanted to showcase various paintings she got from a walk-off to a coffee shop. She and her friends found a collection of decor on the sidewalk free for the taking. The paintings are hung on her wall and are a reminder of a time early in her sophomore year when she started building bonds with new people at ASMS.
James Lott, a senior at ASMS, owns a book that might possibly contain a murder mystery! The previous owner of the book, Dr. Jack Wilson, could be the name of a man who was murdered just after the date in the book. Fascinating!
Kirstin Orso, a senior at ASMS from Mobile County, has a memory box of her junior year. The box is full of various memorabilia such as her old driver’s permit, her old name tag, and her friend’s old student ID. Looking back at it fills her with memories and reminds her of how far she’s come since sophomore year.
Anna Dobbins, a returning junior from Baldwin County, has a hobby of collecting rubber ducks. Anna explains the hobby started around 8th grade when she won some at an arcade. Ever since then, her collection has grown with some help from her friends. She says it must be noted that she has way more ducks than are shown in her photo.
John Wilhite, a senior from Lee County, has a collection of analog computers. These consist of 4 slide rules and a nomogram. All the computers were gifts to him, with some being tokens of thanks for his archival work.