While strings of fairy lights and “Pulp Fiction” posters adorn endless residence hall walls, some GW students’ rooms instead look more like greenhouses.
Getting a slightly prickly cactus for your desk that will survive even if you forget to water it during exam week may be a college rite of passage, but students across campus are opting to expand past such minimal botanical flirtations and instead fill their rooms with leafy decor as far as the eye can see. From cacti named after film directors to familial connections with plants, the dorm gardens have given their horticulturist designers a chance to bring nature home.
Ashleigh Tobin, a senior studying political science and journalism, picked up gardening as a hobby during the pandemic. After going to farm stands and greenhouses with her mother while attending school online, she built up a collection of cacti and succulents.
“They’re fun to take care of,” Tobin said. “It gave me something to do basically during the pandemic.”
When Tobin came to school in the spring semester of 2021, she brought all of her plants with her in an attempt to liven up the “drab” hotel room she turned into an apartment. Her collection has been growing ever since.
Katie Eastman, a junior studying accounting, said school obligations and limited green spaces in the District make it hard for her to embrace her love of nature. She said she compensates by turning her room into her very own green space.
“I really love being outside, but it can be hard to get out into nature since we’re in a city and I don’t always have a lot of time with school, so I try to bring some of all the amazing things outside inside by collecting plants,” Eastman said in an email.
Amelia Magel, a junior studying journalism, self-describes as “botanically challenged” but has not allowed her lack of a green thumb to stop her from caring for her beloved cactus named Spike Lee. While plenty of students acquire a cactus at the beginning of the year only to throw away or regift their prickly pal, Magel and Spike Lee have been together for nearly two years.
“It’s fun to have a little greenery, especially a cactus,” Magel said. “I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is botanically challenged. Cacti are very easy and they’re resilient.”
Magel purchased her cactus in Arizona while visiting her grandparents before they ultimately drove Spike Lee across the country back to her home in New York. Her spiky companion now serves as a reminder of her grandparents’ home in the desert.
“He’s been all over the world because he also drives from Washington, D.C. to New York whenever I go home,” Magel explained.
Riya Sharma, a senior and Hatchet reporter, said her family home is decorated all over with plants. She said when she was coming to GW, her mom wanted to make sure she carried on the family tradition.
“So I wanted to and my mom also wanted to give me something to take with me to brighten up the space in college,” Sharma said. “And also because having plants around is just very nice, you don’t feel like you’re in a dead environment or just surrounded by walls. There’s some life.”
Sharma said she might not have a “green thumb,” but she’s still diligent about taking care of her plants, setting reminders on her phone to water them each and every day. She said despite the caretaking required, her dorm forest improves her living experience.
“I feel like they really brighten up the space,” she said. “And it just makes me feel better. Like I love just when I’m working at my desk, I can just look up and I can see the plants in front of me.”
Jordan Tovin contributed reporting.
