Starting college is an exciting time filled with a plethora of nerves and uncertainty. In the face of
all of these new experiences, one of the most infamous elements of the college experience is the
communal bathrooms.
UC Berkeley might be the #1 public university in the country, but it has never been renowned for its
bathrooms. Whether it be walking into the shower to discover two used q-tips and a hairball
sitting in the built-in soap compartment, finding a dresser in a bathroom stall, or discovering a
toilet flushing for six hours straight, there is no shortage of horror stories.
The reality is many students live in residence halls, particularly as first-years. Not all of us are
lucky enough to end up in the luxury of a Clark Kerr suite. So, it’s important to find a way to
survive without ending freshman year with a foot fungus and resentment towards basic hygiene.
These are the basic tips and tricks that will aid in your survival:
1. shower shoes
This might seem like an obvious tip, but it’s probably the single most essential item. Selecting
the right shower shoes is a delicate process. You have to decide whether slides or flip-flops are
more desirable. The best shower shoes are the ones specifically designed for the shower, with
holes for drainage and grip on the bottom. Once you choose the right shower shoes, make sure
you have a clean place to store them.
2. The chaos of shaving
If you are a person who chooses to shave, communal showers are not ideal for you. While
wearing shower shoes may aid in avoiding touching any part of the shower at all costs, shaving
effectively is nearly impossible. The best method I have found is to prop one leg up against the
shower door and bend that leg while the other leg stands straight in the shower. You can then shave
the bent leg while maintaining your balance and cleanliness. Make sure you keep a firm grip on
your razor so you don’t drop it and have to purchase a new one. This is the easiest and cleanest
method, but it’s still flawed. You will have to come to terms with the inevitable reality of
discovering patches of hair you missed.
3. Buddies in the bathrooms
Privacy is nearly absent in communal bathrooms. Before starting college, one of the things I
found most terrifying was the vulnerability associated with using the bathroom. There’s
something extremely intimate about brushing your teeth, talking with morning breath and
showing off your fresh out-of-bed look. In a residence hall, you’re experiencing all of those
things with strangers. The more you accept this reality and make friends through the
awkwardness of this weird circumstance, the better your experience will be. Before you know it, having a conversation with a dude in a towel will seem normal. I have some great conversations
in the bathrooms, assuming no one is daring enough to try and interact with me before 9 a.m.
4. building a community with expectations and boundaries
Some pretty vile stuff can go on in the bathrooms. Whether it be unflushed toilets or toilet seats
soaked in pee, you will likely see some things you don’t want to see. In most residence halls, you
will have floor meetings with a Resident Advisor (RA) where you establish community guidelines at the beginning
of the year. Take advantage of this opportunity and urge your floor to maintain a clean space.
This ties into my previous tip – the better acquainted you all are, the more you’ll want to respect
each other and your space.
5. pick your favorites and learn to love them
Even when something is disgusting, consistency helps us grow into liking it. Find the shower
stall, bathroom stall and sink you are drawn to and make them your own. Soon you’ll feel as
connected to them as you did to your bathroom at home. Even with the terrible water pressure
and bathroom stall that barely locks, it will still be yours, and you might even find its quirks to
be charming.
6. avoid high traffic times and spaces
As the year progresses, you’ll become more aware of when the bathroom is crowded based on
the schedules of your floormates. Find time to use the bathroom when its chaos is limited so you
can take your time and enjoy your space. Most importantly, never put yourself in a position
where you need to leave for class and stop at the bathroom right before. Those always seem to be
the moments where finding an open stall is impossible.
7. pooping in peace
One of the most vulnerable and private elements of using the bathroom is pooping. Our
generation enjoys spending excessive amounts of time scrolling through our phones on the toilet –
the modern version of a magazine/newspaper. If you don’t want to lose this experience, and you
do want to avoid the awkwardness of other people hearing and smelling what you’re doing, I
have a very important tip for you. Some of the residence halls have single bathrooms on the
ground floor that only one person uses at a time. It might be a bit of a trip if you live on a higher
floor, but it is well worth it. This has been my saving grace of privacy and comfortability.
8. less is more
Communal bathrooms are a shared space which means you are moving your products in and out
as you use them. The best way to store these products is in a shower caddy. Trying to carry a
heavy shower caddy is not ideal, so using only the products you need is essential. You can keep
products you use in the shower and at the sink in the bathroom, but other skincare products are
better stored in your room.
Communal bathrooms might not be the cleanest environment as privacy is definitely
lacking. I can’t say I enjoy wiping pee off the toilet seat before sitting down each time I use the
bathroom. However, I can say it is a bonding experience.
Sharing this space with people I didn’t know at first has forced me to push myself out of
my comfort zone and build connections. As we see each other in vulnerable moments, we gain a
holistic perspective of who each of us is and how we can better interact with each other. I never
expected to pop tide pods in the sink with my floormates. I had no idea my roommate and I
would die of laughter filling our Brita in the shower.
When this experience ends, I know I won’t miss the hairballs, but I suspect I will miss the funny
moments I would never have without the social character-building experience of a residence hall.