It all happened with one snap of a finger. Hair in drains, loud toilet flushes, overstuffed trash cans, leaky faucets, doors swinging in and out.
It was the community bathroom.
This was where I met everyone, yet dreaded seeing the same people whenever I just wanted some peace and quiet.
The complete lack of privacy was a definite transition from using the bathroom at home. And let's not forget that whenever you tried turning on the shower, the water pressure would snap at you like a barking, vicious bulldog. I went from living lavishly to living... like a college student.
This cannot be what everyone was saying the one and only "college experience" was.
Starting off my freshman semester, the bathroom was something I dreaded. How could I do my business wondering who was walking in and out?
But soon the bathroom started to become a comforting place because of all the amazing girls from my dorm I had met.
The conversations in the bathroom turned out to be timeless because the time goes by so fast as I wait for the next shower to become available.
With all the gossip and funny stories we shared, the bathroom really became my home -- more than my actual dorm room. Whenever I see someone in the hallway, it isn't unlikely that they know me from the bathroom.
I decided to maintain these relationships I was developing by staying up to date with the girls I had met in the bathroom. Whenever I saw Stephanie Spence I would ask her the latest "T," which was code for gossip and drama. Of course her response started with the juiciest "T," but I can't tell you that now, can I?
Our conversation ended on a funny note, discussing our favorite shows on the channel Freeform.
"'The Fosters' became so dramatic," Stephanie exclaimed.
In that exact moment, I realized the bathroom had built a welcoming community connecting all of the girls on my floor from different wings. The bathroom was our home. Yes, it stunk sometimes, the toothpaste left in the sink was annoying and the water pressure was not nice at all, but it was our little community inside of this big campus.
We had the bathroom to thank for the laughs, cries and the "T."
rober193@miamioh.edu