Abi Hilden, staff writer

As a broke college student, I made the decision to live on campus for my first year, as it was the most cost effective option for me. I was so excited to move into my dorm, to live away from home for the first time in my life. Little did I know that my excitement would soon morph into true and utter disappointment.

Now, dramatics aside, the root of these negative feelings are caused by one thing, and one thing only. The unfortunate part is that it’s unavoidable, something everyone has to use in one way or another, but it is the bane of my existence. I am talking about none other than the Urness communal bathrooms.

Day after day, I steer clear of using the bathroom on my floor as it is a disaster zone. Unflushed toilets, toilet paper on the floor, mystery stains on the counters, paper towels overflowing in the garbage can, hair clumps left in the shower… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This is not to say that the custodial staff doesn’t do their job – they do come in and clean regularly. However, it seems that within just a couple of hours, the bathroom once again becomes a pigsty. It also doesn’t seem to be just my floor either. Every other person who I have talked to about my frustrations has shared my feelings, telling me stories of how the bathroom on their floor is also constantly a mess.

To those reading this that think I am over exaggerating or inflating the problems of the bathrooms, I invite you to know a little bit about my backstory. I come from a family with six children and two parents. At one point in my life, we had all eight of us sharing one bathroom. I can say with the utmost certainty that the bathroom we all shared was never as bad as what I have experienced within the communal bathrooms in Urness. This could be due to the fact that my family worked to keep our bathroom clean, but that is exactly my point – if eight people sharing one bathroom can keep it clean, there is no excuse for how the bathrooms in Urness are.

I think a lot of this can boil down to the fact that since Urness is a dorm for freshmen, it is a lot of people’s first time living on their own. I also believe that people have the mentality that they can make whatever kind of mess they want because they are not the ones who have to clean it up.

It is the job of everyone to work together to keep shared spaces clean and a lot of people aren’t doing their part. Keeping the bathrooms clean doesn’t have to be difficult, either. It’s as simple as making sure you flush the toilet after you go or throwing away any hair you may have left behind in the shower. Everyone doing little things like these is how the bathrooms stay mess free.

So please, flush your toilets, throw away the toilet paper on the floor and consider how the mess you may be making is affecting others.