The bathroom: A challenge I did not expect to humble me.

Life will humble you!

One of my biggest challenges when I initially started university was sharing a bathroom with eight to ten other girls. Granted, I was one of the lucky ones; I was staying in a hostel with master bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms. Unlike other hostels, where each block had only one bathroom, which meant that up to 15-20 girls may share one bathroom, which most likely didn't even have a sink. Girls would rush up to the bathroom as soon as the cleaners were finished, if at all possible.

We shared roosters, taking turns cleaning the room and bathrooms each day because our rooms were ensuite and we didn't have cleaners. We had control over how clean the place was, and whoever defaulted was held accountable. Nonetheless, as the saying goes, "rules are made to be broken," so the girls would clean whenever they wanted or not clean at all, citing various excuses.

My Bathroom Fear.

Bathing time, on the other hand, was one of my greatest concerns. why? Before anyone could view my naked body, I needed to get up early and shower. Second, I didn't enjoy showering when someone was pooping; the nasty odours and sounds weren't anything to look forward to while you were pampering yourself. Third, the water stopped flowing at a certain point in the morning, so if you needed to bathe and still have water in your bucket for emergencies, you had to get up early.

Regardless, a large number of females were unconcerned. They would get up whenever they could and do their business with whatever water they could find. My first humbling moment occurred when I woke late. Due to a long and stressful night of reading for approaching tests. To my amazement, I discovered half of my housemates crammed into the bathroom. Some ran to bathe, some brushed their teeth, and everyone was virtually sharing the toilet.

Summoning Courage.

I had no idea how or where to fit in, so I had two options: join the rush or wait until everyone was through. If I waited until everyone was finished, there was a good chance I wouldn't be able to bathe. So I summoned all my bravery and joined the stampede, covering myself as I bathed. Yes, covering myself as I bathed is as silly as it sounds. Obviously, it did not work. My bunkmate dragged the towel off of me, showing my petite, tiny body to the rest of my roommates. As everyone else's water splashed on me, I felt cold and exposed, and to my astonishment, no one seemed to notice!