Jeast 6th Floor Bathroom Stall #1

When someone retraces their first year in college, most memorable spots are common: your dorm room on the 6th floor of Jester East where you and friends crammed onto your tiny twin sized bed to do face masks and watch scary movies, the bushes right next to 6-pack where you fell into at midnight when that cute boy was walking you home, Wendy's at 3 am eating drunk fries, McCombs 5th floor where you pulled multiple all nighters, the apartment complexes in West Campus where you first made out with a boy you don't even remember...etc etc

(lol)

Those are all pretty significant places to me.

However.

My most significant place in my first year of college is bathroom stall #1 on the 6th floor of Jester East.

UNFORTUNATELY

Think about it. People have all these memorable places that they walk through again when they're a senior, showing their friends all these places, and when its my turn, its a freaking bathroom stall in my freshmen dorm.

I have 3 particular memories that make this such a memorable spot:

1. The time I got dumped

We're on the stairs outside of Greg, facing Jester. It's almost midnight. I'm wearing my Chicago orchestra hoodie (the really oversized one that makes me look like a blueberry) and sweatpants. I brought tissues in my hoodie pocket because I was expecting to cry, but then make up, hug, kiss, go back to my room and go to my third day of class tomorrow.

I don't remember what he's wearing. He's quiet, he's fiddling with the Texas keychain I gave him, but then it comes out quietly.

Maybe we should break up.

I don't know how we managed to stay out there for another 3 hours. How many times did I beg him to not do this?

By the time we leave, it's past 3 am. My sweatshirt is covered with snot and tears (lovely) and of course, I don't have my ID with me to get back into my dorm. I pathetically knock on the doors outside to get the attention of the person at the front desk, and nod my head while sobbing my eyes out as the girl asks me, "Are you okay?"

Yes--I just started college 2 days ago with my boyfriend of 1.5 years and he just dumped me and I have no friends here, but I'm okay!

I get to my room. Lila is asleep, and the first person I call is Madhuri. She doesn't pick up; of course she doesn't pick up, its 3 am on a school night and she's asleep.

I can't talk in my room anyways. I stumble to the bathroom and lock myself in the first stall bathroom.

It's 3 in the morning on a school night. There's only two people who would answer my call at this time.

"Hello? Mui? What are you doing up so late?"

I spend the next 2 hours bawling while sitting on the toilet to my mother. Mom, I can't do this, I want to come home, let me come home, let me switch schools, why would he do this, please--

I'm interrupted halfway by a girl blow drying her hair outside my stall. Funny now, but annoying as shit at the time. I just got dumped, I'm trying to talk to my mom here, can you please be fucking quiet?

It's almost 5 am when I end the call.

And that's the first significant moment I had in the bathroom stall.

2. The time I got too drunk

It happens to everyone okay??

I can't write too much about this, not because I don't want to, but because I don't remember (lol).

It's Zack's Valentine's day party. I go with Anna, Genny, and her boyfriend. I'll be good this time, I promised, I have to. TUSPC is tomorrow, so I can't be hungover.

Something happened, alcohol, dancing, music, it's 3 am (?), I'm running down the stairs, someone is shouting, "dude she's wasted, help her", Nick is holding me, Zack is telling me to get in the fucking car, and Sang-Bin pulls over right in front of Jester when I throw up.

Anna helps me to my dorm. I manage a (creepy, I'm sure) grin at the person at the front desk. Nope, I'm not drunk at all.

I barely make it into the bathroom stall when I throw up some mixture of vodka and cranberry juice into the bowl. It's a pretty shade of red. It could even be my favorite color, if I hadn't just heaved it out from my stomach.

A girl knocks on the stall. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah," I slur, and I heave the next pile of vomit into the bowl.

Yes, I was very hungover for TUSPC the next day.

3. The time I was too stressed

It's a few weeks before finals, and as everyone knows, the few weeks before finals is almost as stressful as finals itself because its when all the professors pile up the exam before the final exam on you.

I think I had a Econ exam coming up, and my advertising exam was the next day. I'm not sure. I just remember I was very stressed.

I go to sleep around 2 am, and I wake up around 4 with the most pain in my stomach I've ever had. My bed is bunked and I try my best to get off without killing myself or waking Lila up from her sleep.

The last thing I remember is punching in the bathroom code and opening the door. The next thing I see is the bathroom floor right in front of my face.

I'm laying on the tile floor of the bathroom in the first stall, which as I start realizing I'm thinking this is fucking disgusting, the floor is disgusting and I'm laying on it with my clean PJs on. Why am I here??

This one isn't as fun or interesting as the other 2, unfortunately. I just passed out in the stall because of stress (according to the school nurse).

--

I feel like there were more instances in which this bathroom stall was so significant to me, but I guess not since I don't remember.

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been working (lol) and traveling abroad in Shanghai. Update coming soon maybe

tiana