By Harmonie Charland, Ammasith Phrommavanh, Samara Abramson, Tori Kovelman, Lindsey Ghegan, and Emma Sandler

As you walk into Meron Makonnen’s dorm room you see it. The collage hangs on its own wall beside the words “Life is Beautiful,” surrounded by bright colors such as red, yellow, and shades of pink. The natural sunlight coming in from the window illuminates the photos and provides a warm feeling.

The collage is in honor of her best friend, 20-year-old Henry Thevenin, who died two months ago from Leukemia. The photos are filled with smiles and accompanied by the words “Life is Beautiful” could not better suit the emotion one feels after admiring the photos of the two friends together.

“He was a very motivational person. One of the last things he kept saying to me in the hospital was to keep going, don’t stop, you got to work hard,” said Makonnen, a University of Massachusetts junior and accounting major.

Odd entities such as old school video games, hammocks, and pottery are just a few items UMass students move in with. These possessions are just as unique as the students themselves. Photo collages are a popular decoration amongst incoming fall 2011 UMass students.

Siena Terenzio, an 18-year-old incoming freshman, designed a collage filled with 63 photos of friends and family. Terenzio plans to hang the collage above her bed.

“It’s actually on the ground right now but we are going to go buy stuff to hang it up,” said an excited Terenzio.
Hanging the collage above her bed gives Terenzio the opportunity to say goodnight and good morning to her friends and family each day.

Located in the middle of her collage is a picture of Terenzio and her 10 best friends dressed in matching colorful tube socks. The photo was taken during her senior breakfast and last farewell to her best friends.

“That was one main picture that had to be in the center,” said Terenzio.

Although the collage was the most sentimental item in her dorm room, when asked what was the oddest item she moved onto campus with Terenzio immediately reached for a small green ceramic bowl. Although Terenzio is not sure how she is going to put the bowl to use, she feels that it holds significance because she made it in a ceramics class with 2 of her 10 best friends.

“It’s really ugly and now that I think of it, it’s weird that I brought it,” said Terenzio as she laughed.

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