Four freshman rooms are looking stylish after a makeover by contestants of "The Lion's Apprentice" - but only one was good enough to win the latest challenge in the campus competition. On Tuesday, Feb. 28, that victory went to The Consultants. The team is made up of Giselle Herrara, senior finance major; Marcus White, junior business management major; Cheonette Petion, junior accounting major; and Kimberly James, junior accounting major.
Each team was given a $100 budget and had to find volunteers who would let their rooms be made over. It had to create d?cor that was original, aesthetically pleasing, comfortable and in compliance with all residence hall rules. The room will be shown off during campus tours on Accepted Students Day in April, the judges said.
Teams were encouraged to ask stores for donations for the rooms. The Consultants did just that. But unlike the other groups, they brought more than a letter stating the purpose of the project. According to their presentation, they told stores about the College's Get-It card and the possible partnership they could form with the College.
The Consultants began their presentation by describing the four key components of every room - learning/office, sleeping, lounge/entertainment and personal. This breakdown and understanding of a room impressed the judges.
Before and after pictures of the room showed how The Consultants reorganized the room to make it more functional and friendly. They used many of the items already in the room to make the transformation and incorporated the College's school colors - blue and gold - into the decorations they purchased. The newly bunked beds added space to the room, allowing the team to add a lounge chair and a colorful carpet. The windows were covered with blue curtains and hints of gold were present in a large decorative fan that graced the one wall, along with several new pictures.
Team Theta Phi Alpha, the first to present, stressed the importance of utilizing items already in the room and said that it looked at other rooms in the building to get some ideas for the room set-up. Team members also asked the residents for their input. Theta Phi Alpha got Staples to donate organizers for each student's desk.
The second team to present, Team Phi Beta Lambda (P.B.L.), decided to make over a male's room.
"We wanted a challenge that a female's room couldn't give us," they said in the beginning of the presentation, a comment that made the audience laugh.
Another challenge was trying to incorporate two very different personalities into a well-balanced room. Team P.B.L. added color and many pictures and posters to the drab walls of the room. The team suggested that the College offer a program that helps freshmen students organize, decorate and utilize their rooms.
Team Trump had to overcome a big obstacle as well - neither of the two team members had ever lived on campus. They had to learn all the policies and rules of the residence halls while trying to complete the room on time. The team incorporated the girls' favorite colors into the room. Team Trump even negotiated with the College Bookstore for the donation of a pillow with the College's logo.
While the judges deliberated, all teams commented on what a great experience "The Lion's Apprentice" has been.
"It teaches us real-world experience," Joe Shalhoub, junior business management major and P.B.L. member, said. "It's a great program."
His teammate, Nicole Gravina, sophomore accounting major, felt similarly. "It teaches you a lot about teamwork," she said. "You do group projects in class, but it's not real."
The judges returned and told each team its strengths and weaknesses. While each team was told that it did a good job, there could only be one winner and one team had to be eliminated.
Team Theta Phi Alpha was sent home after winning the challenge the week before. The Consultants received a $100 Visa gift card, along with the remaining balances on the other teams' cards from the challenge.
Dave Puskar from Bloomberg LP introduced this week's challenge. He asked the teams to come up with some "new and fresh" ideas for the company. Bloomberg LP has three main parts - the Bloomberg Terminal, Data License and a television/radio/magazine media network.
Puskar is looking for the teams to come up with some "big picture" ideas that would allow Bloomberg LP to do something different and possibly bring the company into new markets.
The results of this challenge are scheduled to be revealed on Tuesday, March 7 in the Business Building Main Lounge.
