At the end of a long day, most of us want nothing more than to take a nice, long, hot shower and get ready for bed. Personally, I always look forward to this part of my day, until I remember the awkward discomfort I experience in dorm showers. Shower struggles have usually occurred on rare occasions, such as when I went to a camp or visited another country. But now, shower struggles are something I get to look forward to every night for the rest of the school year.  

Not to exaggerate, but the showers here in Simmons Hall are practically half the size of my shower back home and are about a foot shorter than my high, specially installed showerhead back in Virginia. Obviously, I didn’t expect the showers to be the same size, but I also did not expect the showerhead to only be high enough to reach my armpits. This usually results in an awkward squat-like stance in order for the shower water to reach my neck and shoulders. If that’s hard to envision, I usually end up looking something like this, or at least it feels this way: 

(Image via Cosmopolitan)

Since I, very evidently, will not have the privilege of a personalized shower head here, I had to find a way to make it work. one way or another. Since my first week, I have learned to improvise and find a more comfortable way to wash my excessively long legs that I talked about in my prior blog. Luckily for me, some of the showers in Simmons have small benches outside of the physical shower but still inside of the individual shower stall. The setup looks like this:

(Image via Madison Burnard)

Fortunately, if I open the shower curtain, I can extend each leg onto the bench while washing up and be a bit more comfortable than trying to do all that in the tiny shower vicinity. The only down part of THAT is that it requires me to have the shower curtain open, so in addition to water practically flooding the floor, it’s even more awkward than the awkward squat-stance. Why, you ask? Because, the shower stall doors are also short, and I am just the opposite. Therefore, on multiple occasions, I have made eye contact with people walking past the stall which ultimately results in an awkward exchange like below.

(Image via Tenor)

As far as I’m concerned, the showers aren’t getting any bigger and I’m not getting any shorter. However, considering that it is only the fifth week of school, I’m sure I have A LOT more adjusting to do and I’m sure I will continue to find new, innovative ideas to continually make showering less of a tragic hassle than it is now. Although I will probably continue to make a lot of uncomfortable eye contact with others as I shower, I’ll just look on the bright side. Maybe I’ll make some friends! Just kidding.  

Yes, the showers are gross and yes, wearing shoes in the shower SUCKS, but it could be worse (you could be me)! But really, NEVER take the comfort of showering for granted. EVER.

Thanks for tuning in!

Madison

A friend and I during the summer – notice my “capris” (Image via Anderson Vasquez)

How difficult is it for you to buy pants? Yes, pants, the material that covers your legs type of pants. Well, you might be wondering why anyone would ask such a stupid question. Anyways, there are tons of stores at your local mall that you can run into and purchase a pair of pants whenever you feel like it. There are light wash jeans, dark wash jeans, black jeans, white jeans, skinny jeans, flare jeans, dress pants, leggings, sweatpants, you name it; the variety is endless! Sometimes, you may feel overwhelmed by all the potential options to choose from. Luckily, I don’t have this problem. 

As mentioned before, I absolutely love being 6’1, but it definitely has its disadvantages. Around the time I turned 12 and was 5’9, I realized that my pants just weren’t long enough anymore and highwaters were no longer in style (honestly, were they ever?). My legs were (and still are) extremely long and somewhat disproportional in comparison to the rest of my body.

The meme I am often compared to (Image via Popjustice)

Anyways, back to my dilemma. So, highwaters were no longer sufficient, but I had no clue what to do. I tried stretching my jeans and I even tried buying bigger sizes – but that simply resulted in a larger waist size and the same length. Just when I was ready to give up and pretend that my pants were capris for the rest of my life, my swim coach, who was pretty tall herself, informed my mom and me that Aeropostale, Hollister, and American Eagle sold jeans in lengths. I stocked up on jeans and was super excited to not wear capris in the middle of the winter.   

I was living contently until I hit ANOTHER growth spurt around 14 and my LONG jeans weren’t long enough. I had hit 6 foot and my new favorite clothing item – my long pants – were about 2 inches too short. Just fantastic! How is it possible that LONG jeans are too SHORT? I was beyond annoyed. I had no clue what to do. I visited every store in my mall in search of a “longer long” pant size, and I found – you guessed it – nothing. 

 Now, I REALLY thought that I was going to have to wear “capris” for the rest of my life. That was until I went back to American Eagle for the 4th time and tried on about 6 pairs of long jeans just for none of them to fit adequately in length. After walking out of the dressing room miserably to show my mom that none of them fit appropriately, the employee asked me if I was looking for a longer pant. I told her that the pants I was wearing were the long pant, and that’s when she enlightened me that American Eagle sells EXTRA long jeans, however online only. 

I’m sure you could imagine my excitement, I was ecstatic that once again I wouldn’t have to pretend that capris were in style during seasons that they were NOT appropriate for. However, that excitement became a bit inhibited when I realized that the only pants that I could get online in an extra-long were jeans.  

To this day, I still get every single pair of my jeans from American Eagle, simply because they are the only place I have found that sells extra-long jeans at a price that doesn’t make me nauseous. It is still unfortunate that finding dress pants, khakis, leggings, and sweatpants that are the right length for me is nearly impossible, but I have improvised by investing in men’s sweatpants, wearing tall socks to cover my leggings, and still using the capris tactic with khakis. 

Regardless, I still owe it all to American Eagle for at least allowing me to find jeans my length. Being tall has its perks and downfalls, but in the end, there’s always a valuable lesson to be learned. For me, I learned to never EVER take my pants for granted and to always remember that ankle coverage is a privilege, not a right. 

Tune in next week to continue our delve into the life of a tall female! 

Madison

My high school volleyball team and me, #14 (Image via Abigail Cook)

Throughout my life, there has been one question that I have been asked more than any other. “Do you play basketball?” This is a question I hear from strangers at the grocery store, acquaintances at my church, friends at my school, coworkers of my parents, and even my very own family. It seems as if everyone and their mother wants to know if I do, indeed, play basketball.  

Now, I am in no way asserting that it’s a stupid question. In fact, considering that I passed the average height of a fully-grown woman by the time I was 10 years old, I shouldn’t be surprised that this is the question I am most frequently asked. Honestly, in most cases, I would also expect a 6 foot 14-year-old, the average height of a WNBA player, to play basketball as well. However, I think what irks me the most is the overwhelming amount of times I am asked this question and the way in which I am asked.  

Generally, when we first meet someone, our initial reaction is to introduce ourselves and ask a conversational question such as: “what’s your name?”. More commonly, when conversing with those we already know, a simple “how are you?” or “what’s up?” is the first thing we ask one another. Personally, I am usually greeted with an “oh my god, you’re so tall” or “do you play basketball?” or “please tell me you’re doing something productive with all that height”. Though at first, these questions seemed funny and genuine, after about 6 years of it, I am OVER it. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my height, but that doesn’t mean I want to be told every 60 seconds that I am “soooooo tall” and asked if I play basketball.  

My mother, father, and I at an event (Image via Gregory Henderson)

Frankly, I could place all the blame on my dad. My mom is only 5’4, so I had a chance at being the height of a normal girl, however, my dad, who stands at 6 foot 8, ruined all chances of “average” for me. And guess what? He has NEVER played basketball and neither do I, which is probably best for everyone. What’s quite ironic is that the only person in my family who plays basketball is my little brother, who is 11 and 5’3. 

My younger brother and I pictured in front of Atherton Hall (Image via Stacey Burnard)

Basically, what I’m trying to get at is that if you see a tall person follow these steps. 1) DON’T TELL THEM THAT THEY’RE TALL – they already know. I promise. 2) DON’T ASK THEM IF THEY PLAY BASKETBALL – just don’t. Unless they’re wearing a basketball uniform. But then you already know the answer. So, just refrain. 3) If they say they don’t play basketball, DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT TELL THEM THAT THEY’RE A WASTE OF HEIGHT. Instead, try using some of these “quality conversation starters” to avoid annoying the next tall person you talk to.

Just follow my handy-dandy tips and you’re on your way to becoming every tall person’s best friend!!

Thanks for tuning in!
Madison