Just as important as the places we live in are the things we use to fill these spaces: our possessions. Whether you're a cluttered collector or a Zen purist, the things you own can speak volumes about yourself.

College is the first chance many students have to assert their individuality through their own homes and the belongings therein. Different students take different approaches to this new-found freedom.

"We just kind of collect things," said Jen Hodo-Powell, a pre-education junior, "not so much for the value of the things, but for what they can offer our place aesthetically."

Hodo-Powell, along with her two roommates, nursing senior Alice Webb and retailing and consumer sciences junior Christy Kimball, have filled their three-bedroom house with an eclectic mix of furnishings. Antique clocks, Catholic art, old radios and cameras - their home is definitely not the ordinary college hangout.

"We go to the discount stores a lot," said Kimball. "All of the things in our house were pretty cheap."

Other than the obvious monetary benevolence of discount stores, the buyer can also find alternatives to the assembly-line products found at Target and Wal-Mart.

"By buying at a thrift store, it's not about what's in style, but finding things that interest you," Kimball said. "It's nice knowing that nobody has the same things that you do."