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Freshman Chronicles: The Bathroom Bible

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at George Mason University chapter.
There’s one concern on every freshman girl’s mind: how’s this community bathroom situation going to work out? At home, you probably shared a bathroom with a sibling, or if you were lucky, you had your very own. So switching to sharing your floor’s two bathrooms with a handful of girls will result in a lot of blow-drying, makeup, and of course, water.

When it comes to the water, I have to give my floor credit. There was never a time where I found myself waiting for a shower. There were usually multiple showers open, too, so I could immediately claim the one with the best water pressure. We all know that as girls, our luscious locks need all the pressure they can get if we want them to appear shiny and
healthy.  So it’s a smart idea to test out all the showers on your floor to discover which one produces the best pressure and temperature for you. I made the mistake of not finding out that the showers down the hall were overall much better until the end of second semester.

Since you have to go through the hallway to use the shower, there are a few things you should always remember. First, try not to forget anything at all because that just results in either not shaving your legs that night or screaming to your roommate who, honestly, is not going to hear you. And if she does happen to, watching Gossip Girl usually seems a little more important than helping you out. To make your life a little easier, bring your cellphone along, because that one time you forget your towel (or a few times if you’re like me), you’ll be more than grateful you have it with you. Plus, we all know fifteen minutes is a little too long to be without your phone anyways…there could be an emergency text, right?

Even if you do forget your phone, there is one thing you must never forget: Your key. First semester, my roommate and I had a habit of locking our door because we both did not want anyone setting a finger on our brand-new laptops or more importantly, our wardrobes stuffed with clothes. One night, I told my roommate I was going to the gym, so she needed to bring her key along when she took a shower. After my hour-long workout, I headed up to my floor and opened the door.  At that second, my roommate comes bursting out of our floor mates’ room in a random, over-sized robe, yelling, “AVALON SWINDELL JONES!” Turns out, someone did not remember their key! She spent a good amount of her time that night socializing with a floor mate while soaking wet. I still laugh about it today and even though she does not find it funny, at least it taught her a lesson.

She taught a floor mate a lesson, though, pertaining to the shower later that year: don’t take a shower with someone else in the community bathroom… especially when someone is in the shower next to you! This happened one night while I was doing homework in our dorm, and she took a shower across the hall. During what she thought would be any normal,
peaceful shower, a couple came in and decided to shower in the one next to her. Almost immediately, she heard some rather disturbing noises. To make her presence well-known (even though the running water should have been enough), she started slamming her shampoo bottle around. Apparently they could have cared less because their moans didn’t quiet down. When my roommate came back scarred and shocked, we decided to take turns spying out of our peephole to see who the culprits were. Our across-the-hall bathroom was the prime spot for stalking.  But let me tell you, when we found out who it was, we laughed all night long. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who witnessed this escapade because the next day, there was a note on the bathroom door that read, “The boys’ bathroom is on the second floor!” So remember to be considerate of your floor mates, you never know who will be creepily watching out of a peephole.

I almost left a note on the door one morning when I groggily walked into the bathroom and was given a major wake-up call from what appeared to be a significant amount of blood on the bathroom floor.  Throughout the day, my floor mates and I discussed who or what the blood could have possibly been from. Either someone had a really crazy night or we were dealing with a murder on Madison Third. Later that night we found out that it was only tie-dye, but everyone still wondered why the person wouldn’t clean up their giant, disturbing mess.

Remember that a room full of girls is never easy, so a bathroom full of girls can get a little more than complicated at points. As girls, we need to respect one another and the fact that most of us like our cleanliness and a shower for one, not three.

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Avalon Swindell Jones

George Mason University

Avalon is a senior at George Mason University, majoring in communication with a concentration in public relations and minoring in both business and electronic journalism.  She has been writing for Her Campus since fall 2011, allowing her to discover her passion for writing.  Her favorite topics to write about are relationships, embarrassing moments, and nights out.  
Sabel is a senior at George Mason University majoring in History and Economics. Although she'd rather stay a student forever, she is excited to see what the future brings her in the fashion industry. Besides her endeavors at HerCampus, Sabel is a Style Guru for CollegeFashionista.com writing the Style Advice of the Week column for Mason. Adding to her busy schedule are her duties in her sorority, volunteering for Operation Smile, contributing to the social media world, feeding her soda addiction, shopping at J.Crew and coloring everything around her pink. And yes, the last three are major priorities in her book.