Hundreds of fashion ads, ranging from Dolce and Gabbana to Chanel and everything in between, bombard visitors upon entering the room of two junior fashion merchandising majors.

“It was all Jill,” said Carrie Brady in reference to her roommate, Jill Holava’s interior decorating skills.

The colorful décor not only fits the students’ shared major, but their busy lifestyle as well.

The two honors students are currently trying to fit in time with family and friends before leaving next semester to study in New York and Hong Kong.

“Right now, since I’m going to Hong Kong, I’ve been hanging out with my friends,” Holava said. “Like, I’m booked every weekend until I leave.”

After submitting an essay in late August, Holava was selected as one of two fashion students to go to Hong Kong for spring semester. Holava said this is part of an exchange program with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Holava said she had originally planned to go to New York in the spring, along with Brady, but decided otherwise after being chosen to go to Hong Kong.

Brady said although she understood Holava’s decision and wasn’t mad about it, she was still uncomfortable with the idea of going to New York without her.

“At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go (to New York), but Jill said, ‘I’ll go with you,'” Brady explained. “We had this whole plan, and I was getting really comfortable with it, and then she said she got accepted to go to Hong Kong.”

Despite having thoughts of backing out the night she found out, Brady said by the next day she decided she still wanted to go.

Brady even plans to take a weekend trip to New York in early November to interview for various internships with Michael Kors, Nanette Lepore and Charlotte Ronson.

“I’m kind of using this experience with traveling to see how much I really like it,” Brady said. “I don’t have as much experience with it as Jill does.”

Brady is quick to credit

Holava with influencing her to travel more.

“I pretty much have the same goals as Jill, but I’m kind of the one who’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know if I can do it,'” Brady said.

Despite Brady’s commitment to her sorority, Alpha Xi Delta, and Holava’s obligations as an Abercrombie & Fitch employee, both plan to travel more in the future, including studying abroad together in Florence in Fall 2009. Besides traveling, Brady said they spend their time shopping and “eating out way too much” together.

“Jill and I spend most of our free time together,” Brady said. “We’re really close.”

Contact honors and international affairs reporter Denise Wright

at [email protected].