1. Quotes

This particular quote is taken from a book I mailed to my high school Best Friend for his birthday. "When two aliebns find each other in a strange place, it feels a little more like home"—that's how author Jomny Sun describes his philosophical outlook on life, personified through an alien who travels to Earth on his quest to learn more about humankind before bringing his findings back to his home planet. Properly titled everyone's a aliebn when you're an aliebn too, Sun provides food for though on the human- and alienness inside all of us, told through cheekily crafted misspellings (look back to the book title as an example) and black-and-white, marker-on-paper cartoons.

2. Wood Engraving

A high school friend gifted me this during the holidays. It's of the Auckland, New Zealand skyline, which is where I studied abroad during my first-ever semester of college this past fall. It was the first time we've seen each other since high school graduation, so those initial moments of our reunion were ones supplied with tight hugs, huge smiles and a promise to carry that wood engraving with me for the rest of my days, during my college years and beyond.

3. Glow-in-the-Dark Plastic Shapes

These represent nothing more than me still trying to hang onto my childhood despite being an adult. They're also totally not there to keep away those scary monsters that come out in the dark of the night.

4. Letters

One evening, I messaged my best friend that I wrote letters to friends as a kid, but correspondance eventually ceased because not only did we we not only grew apart, but technological advances over the years made snail mail obsolete. I told him that while of course I wish that those relationships weren't so distanced, I countered that I've learned my lesson, and that I want to maintain the friendships I have now and forever more. We message each other every day, but we decided to supplement those interactions by writing letters to each other. It's a nostalgic yet tender and intimate act that made us all the more invested in not only continuing our correspondence, but also our lifelong friendship.

5. Seashells

Because Talenti gelato is yummy, and seashells from the beaches of New Zealand are cool, the combination of the two makes for a sentimental dorm decoration since I can no longer easily obtain either of those items… :,(

6. Post-Its

While in New Zealand, my groupmates would often leave sticky notes taped to my dorm door (or forehead, whenever I fell asleep during a dorm hangout) for me to wake up to. Some are silly, some are inspirational and some are more serious. But regardless of the Post-It's intention, I cherish each one the same, so much so that I left them all taped to that door for the entire semester before packing them away to take back with me to the United States, and rehanging them in my new dorm back at my home university. To me, they're like briefer versions of the letters my Best Friend and I write to each other, but still just as lovingly written. Can you tell I love being sentimental yet?

7. Pillows

These pillows aren't just sitting on the corner of my bed for the cute dorm room aesthetic. Okay, so maybe the Totoro and French-themed pillows act as a bit of a filler to promote color-coordination as well as liven up my living space, but the two stuffed animals definitely hold more significance. The frog was a going-away present my parents got for me before I studied abroad, and the cat was a holiday gift to me from one of my high school friends. Neither of them look it, but they're both actually super soft and squishy!

8. Rocks

I maintain a hefty rock collection back at my family home, and I wanted to bring a piece of that with me to my dorm.

I don't even know much about them. I just like the way they look sitting on a windowsill.