Biola’s Housing Services hosted its first ever on-campus housing competition which allowed students to electronically submit photos of their dorm and apartment rooms to compete for the ultimate prize of a private lunch with president Barry Corey.

“I feel like there are so many positive things that happen in housing in general and so we wanted to celebrate the fun stuff with competitions like Rate My Space,” said Heidi Herchelroath, Housing manager. “Students work so hard to get their rooms settled and they are excited about them, so here is the chance to show them off.”

Seniors take Best Overall Room

Grand prize winners seniors Elizabeth Jade Martinez and Rachel Cooper from Hart Hall on the Judges’ Choice for the Best Overall Room category.

Both girls won certificates for their triumph. Photographs of their room will be featured on the Housing website, the Admissions website and on the Admissions television screen in Metzger Hall. They also won a catered lunch with president Barry Corey on his private patio, according to Herchelroath.

Martinez, an art major, said that she initially wanted to enter the contest to get the chance to show her dorm room to others, as it is something of great importance to her.

“It was just such appropriate timing as the Sacred Spaces theme has been a theme in my own life and it seemed so fun,” Martinez said. “Plus [a meal with] DBC was offered in the prize and we love DBC. The the whole competition was something I just had to do.”

She also noted that the competition gave other students a reason to come all the way down to Hart Hall in lower campus and see the room, which was a great way to foster community.

Her roommate, Cooper, a communication disorders major, enjoyed that all the entries had the ability to inspire other students’ rooms and was a great way to get others excited about their living space.

“I liked that it gave prospective and current students ideas to do with their dorm rooms,” Cooper said. “And I liked the collaboration aspect of the students sharing their ideas with one another and feeding off of that creative energy.”

Categories offered opportunity to all

There were six different categories offered overall, giving every type of resident the opportunity to participate. The categories included Judges’ Choice for Best Single/Double, Judges’ Choice for Best Triple/Lounge, Judges’ Choice for Best One-Bedroom Apartment, Judges’ Choice for Best Two-Bedroom Apartment, Students’ Choice for Best Room based off online voting and Judges’ Choice for Best Overall Room.

The winners of Judges’ Choice for Best Triple Room and Students’ Choice for Best Room were junior Patricia Diaz, junior Havilah Steinman and sophomore Victoria Van Vlear from Thompson Hall. For the Judges’ Choice for Best Two-Bedroom Apartment category, the winners included juniors Savannah Faranal, Pearl Botts, Morgan Dixon and Christie Gamble, from Tradewinds.

The Judges’ Choice for Best Single/Double Room was awarded to junior Mikel Carrion and sophomore Joe West for their double room in Sigma Hall and an honorable mention for Most Unique Submission went to junior Julia Bates, senior Emily Ganzfried, sophomore Jessica Robert and junior Drianna Litton, from Thompson Hall, for a Christmas-themed bathroom.

Winners receive prizes

The winners of these categories won a special dessert to enjoy in their room, certificates for each of the room residents and will have photographs of their room featured on the Housing website, Admissions website and on the Admissions television screen in Metzger Hall.

All of these prizes were paid for and provided by Undergraduate Housing, which is also part of Student Development, according to Herchelroath.

From the start of the competition, students had the chance to submit photographs of their rooms from Wednesday, Nov. 9 to Sunday, Nov. 13, and once submissions had ended, other students had the opportunity to cast their votes online to determine the winners of Students’ Choice for Best Room.

The judges went around to the final rooms on Wednesday, Nov. 16, in order to evaluate them one last time in person. The final winners were announced on Friday, Nov. 18 at noon on the Residence Life and Housing website, with photos of the winning rooms.