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What happened to showering naked? Don't jump in the pool with clothes on

Lady Speak

During my adolescent days, I believed there was nothing as hard as trying to cope with physical changes. Without a strong support system, I would probably have ended up sinking into depression. Nearly 20 years later, I look back and laugh at some of the things we did in school to cope.

If you have ever attended boarding school, you will know there is no such thing as privacy. I remember when I first walked into the dormitory bathrooms. It was a huge hall with no cubicles. If you were taking shower in one corner of the hall, anyone at the other corner could clearly see what you were doing.

Before our bodies started to change, taking shower was a fun event. But as soon as we began to notice the changes, some of us even found a way to take a shower while dressed. Don’t ask me how, I also don’t know.

We also had those brave students who had mastered the art of taking life head on. Let me say they were like the proverbial tree planted by the water side that cannot be moved no matter what.

Just how do you explain someone running around the bathroom naked, making merry while singing all sorts of songs and pouring water all over those trying to adjust? Surely, some of us were there trying to take a shower in vibration mode while other were on maximum volume!

But with time, we were forced to join the brave bandwagon because being on vibration mode was proving a bit hard as all the attention would be on you. You can imagine someone four metres away from you yelling, “Beryl, you have some soap on your hips!” Everyone would turn to look at the soap on your hips and you would wish you could grow wings and fly.

Then came the time when we had to adjust to walking or running with a bust that was fast announcing its arrival. Only God knows the number of times I walked with a slight bend as I tried to fight nature. To make it worse, in school, as a sign of respect, when a teacher calls you from wherever, you go running. You can imagine how funny we looked running with a slight bend trying to cover our busts.

Those who’ve been there know how painful the bust is during this period. Any slight pressure on them can give you a total black out. Those of us who were initially pros at running around and jumping in the field during games time suddenly became so protective of their chests.

During ‘parade’, some even stood with their held up beside them like hens opening their wings, ready to protect their chicks... just in case whoever is next to you decides to make a sudden move and accidentally hits your poor budding breasts.

I must admit that through all this, boarding school instilled some body confidence in me. We didn’t have the luxury of locking ourselves in bathroom and taking a sweet private shower. We didn’t even have the chance to go back home every evening to an adult female figure who offered us a shoulder to lean on. We just had no option but to develop a thick skin.

Ladies, observe the women at the gym or pool and make your own judgement. If there’s that one lady who will wait for everybody to leave the changing room for her to change into her swimsuit, chances are she went to a day school.

I’ll bet you that the one woman who walks around the room naked asking for lotion went to boarding school. By the way, don’t run to me and try to bet, I have no money in my account. That’s why I am willing to bet.

So today, I am here to give a standing ovation to boarding schools. That’s where I got my confidence. Were it not for them, maybe, just maybe, I would still be jumping into pools fully dressed.

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