Jennifer French and Michele Taylor’s door is wide open. En Vogue’s “My Lovin’ (You’re never gonna get it),” blasts from their room into the hallway, mixing with three or four other songs coming from other rooms inside McClain Hall.
A skeleton decoration is taped to the door. They’ve named him Humphrey, and Taylor says he is a “39-year-old divorced accountant.”
Taylor is sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, surrounded by colored construction paper, tape and a pair of scissors. She is busy making clothes for the skeleton.
It is nearing the end of the fifth week of school, and the many students in McClain are settled into their rooms. In the hallway, women take turns using a vacuum cleaner.
French and Taylor are settled in as well. Their desks are covered with soda cans, books and scattered papers. The floor around Taylor’s bed is equally messy.
French’s wall is decorated with CD album sleeves, including three from Bad Religion, her favorite band, and two from Blink-182. The blanket on her bed is plaid with dark blue, light blue and cream colors. Below it the comforter is dark blue.
The opposite side of the room is a different story. Taylor’s bed is covered with a light pink and purple blanket with lime green squares. On the wall hangs a collage of photos of her and her friends; above it is a flower poster and next to it is one of a tropical beach. Two stuffed animals sit on the bed like fixtures.
Both women agree that their tastes in décor differ drastically, but they joke that the No Doubt poster on the back of the door makes their styles come together. Humphrey is also a collaborative effort.
“It’s Jenn’s skeleton,” Taylor says. “But he’s naked, so I’m putting clothes on him.”
Already he’s wearing a button-up Hawaiian shirt.

The pain of studies
The women have reached the middle of the term, but the past five weeks have taken their toll. They have lost much of their initial verve and their voices are a little flatter, a little less excited. Both say they are tired.
French wanted to find a job in a local library to make a little extra money. Just a few weeks earlier she said she needed part-time work, but now the reality of her schedule has hit.
“Honestly, I haven’t looked that hard because I’ve been busy with school,” she says. “I think I’d die if I got a job, too.”
School has been difficult for French. She has already taken a midterm for one of her three chemistry classes — Chemistry 221 — and received a D, but she is still getting a C- average in the class, she says. That’s the only class she’s worried about. The other day she turned in an assignment for the class 15 minutes late and didn’t get any credit for it.
Taylor hasn’t found her studies a piece of cake either.
She has class every day and she’s often busy studying instead of going out to have fun.
Taylor, now taking a break from clothing Humphrey and studying for her classes, is curled up in bed with her stuffed animals. It is 4:23 p.m.
French says Taylor often does this when she gets burned out from studying.

Living together
The women are relaxing in their room, each in their usual locations — French in the butterfly chair by her desk and Taylor on her bed with her stuffed animals. The television is playing a documentary about cheerleading. Taylor, who was a cheerleader in high school, occasionally comments on it, saying how the women on the show are too young to be cheerleading. It takes too much dedication and concentration, and it’s too physically taxing for women that age, she says.
French notices the show only when Taylor comments on it but then dismisses it with a shrug.
Outside of their room the women rarely spend time together. On weekends, French sleeps in, takes a shower and meets up with friends. Usually she hangs out in H.P. Barnhart Hall, where most of her friends live. On Saturday, they all played “a loud version of Bullshit,” and French taught her friends how to play poker.
Taylor spends time with her boyfriend and her friend Tiphani Handy. She says they enjoy going to The Break in the EMU.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays the women do spend some time together watching “Everwood,” “Friends” and “Gilmore Girls,” their favorite shows.
But after five weeks of living together in the same tiny room, both women say they get along well. Taylor has really enjoyed getting to know French over the past few weeks, saying her roommate was hard to get to know at first because of her reserved personality. French has also enjoyed living with Taylor.
“I’m actually kind of surprised because I don’t normally mesh well with other people, because I’m abrasive and my foul language,” she says. “It’s all going well, in my opinion.”
Living together inevitably brings certain conflicts into play, however. Taylor complains jokingly that in the mornings her roommate sometimes wakes her up.
French jumps up and goes to her closet and pulls the left door open. There is a crash of metal against wood. It is the buckles on French’s belts knocking against the door as she whips the door open.
Taylor emphatically points out the noise that wakes her up.
“It’s really, really loud in the morning,” Taylor says, smiling. “But, if she wakes me up I can go back to sleep, and vice versa.”

Going home
French went home for the first time Friday to visit her family in Aloha. It was a relief to the homesick freshman.
“My dog went nuts,” she said. “She got a sock and would not leave me alone until I kept throwing it for her for about two hours.”
Taylor didn’t go home. Instead, her family drove to Eugene. They tailgated at the Stanford game and all went out to dinner together. Taylor then spent the weekend getting ready for her midterms. Although she got to spend time with her family, Taylor said she wished she could have gone home.
“I want to get attacked by my dog,” she said. “I miss my animals. I miss my house because it has lots and lots of windows and a pool.”
French said it was nice to see her dog again because the miniature dachshund is a constant source of entertainment.
On Sunday French met up with a friend from high school who now attends Linfield College. She also spent her weekend at home catching up with her mother, talking about classes.
On the way back to Eugene, French caught a ride with some of her friends, and when they arrived back in town they went to Common Grounds in Hamilton Complex to get something to eat. French then headed back upstairs to take on her fifth week of college and the stress it will bring.
“It actually felt more normal coming back here than it did going home,” she said.