Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Fear not, friends, for it seems you have stumbled upon the long-lost island, er, residence hall room of NIU students Heather McCoy and Charity Thompson. The girls have turned their homely Douglas C room into a jungle oasis complete with hanging vines, talking animals and leopard print galore. How did these two soon-to-be teachers come up with this over-the-top theme?

“It was kind of ironic,” said McCoy, a sophomore English teacher certification major. “I didn’t know [Thompson] before we moved in, but we had talked on the phone and when I mentioned doing a theme, she suggested leopard print, which was great because I had really wanted to do a jungle theme.”

Thompson, a senior primary education major, said the jungle theme was cheaper than other ideas.

“The first thing that came to mind was leopard print, because it was either that or a classic black and white photography type theme and that would have been expensive,” Thompson said.

Just about everything in the room fits the jungle theme – floral vines zigzag across the ceiling. Jungle-print fabric covers the closet doors, beds and windows. The walls are adorned with a jungle-themed border around the ceiling and there is a menagerie of animal footprints as well as a collage of various jungle and savannah animals made from an old calendar.

The girls have improved their viney ceiling this year.

“Last year we held [the vines] up with duct tape and they would always be falling down,” McCoy said. “Every time we would come home they would have fallen or be sagging. This year I used 3M clips to hold them to the ceiling.”

The jungle theme has drawn a lot of praise from passerby.

“Usually people are pretty surprised,” Thompson said. “A lot of people really like it and have said we should be in Cribs or on MTV.”

The quickest growing part of the girls’ room is their leopard collection. If something isn’t green and jungle themed, it is leopard print.

“Once you start the theme, you just can’t end it,” McCoy said. “Since I started, I have developed radar for leopard-print anything. Give me five minutes in a store and I can find something leopard.”

Despite the fact that her leopard addiction could very well consume her life, McCoy’s mother is definitely an enabler. Mrs. McCoy has made a lot of the elements in the girls’ room, including the curtains and embroidered cork board covers.

Crib: One bedroom and communal bath

Where: 374 Douglas C

Who: Heather McCoy, sophomore English teacher certification major and Charity Thompson, senior primary education major