Learning how to do laundry is one of the many challenges that students face when they begin college, but what happens when more problems arise within the challenge itself?

Within the communal laundry rooms located in the Keene State College dorms, students have reported missing clothing, laundry being tampered with and other students inconsiderately moving wet clothing. KSC first-year Annie Dubois said she has had issues with her laundry all semester. “I went to put my clothes in the dryer two weeks ago, but there weren’t any dryers so I decided to go up to my room and wait. I come back down ten minutes later and someone had just thrown all my wet clothes on the table,” Dubois said, “Only after waiting forever and drying all my clothes, I realized I had two pants missing and a shirt.” Dubois said this is a common occurrence in her dormitory building, Randall Hall. “I’ve heard of this happening all over campus. My friends know a girl who had stuff stolen too, but mostly people just take other people’s wet clothes out of the washing machines and don’t put them in a dryer,” Dubois said. However, with free on-campus laundry, first-year Zoie MacDonald said it is easy to move other students’ clothing from the washing machines to the dryers. “A lot of times people take out other people’s wet laundry and just leave it on the floor, but if I run into that situation I put the clothes in the dryer for them because it’s free,” MacDonald said, “And if someone’s clothes are left in the dryer, I usually fold them for them.” MacDonald continued, “I just think it’s rude when people mess with other people’s stuff.” However, MacDonald said she has still run into problems with other students touching her laundry as well. “I have people who just take my clothes out and leave them on top of the dryer or on the floor. It’s annoying,” MacDonald said, “I’ve never had anything stolen, but I’ve heard of it happening.”

The dorms are not the only place students have had concerns with laundry.

Olivia Belanger / A&E Editor

KSC senior Alex Terry said he lives in a house with eight male students who share one washing machine and one dryer.

“We try to manage it as best as possible and luckily we haven’t come across any issues yet,” Terry said, “You have to be considerate. If someone is washing their clothes, you have to understand that you have to wait.”

In terms of moving other people’s laundry, Terry said he always puts his roommates’ wet clothing into the dryer if he needs to. “They’re always so thankful when I [move their clothing into the dryer], but, for me, it’s nothing. It seems like the right to do and it’s so easy,” Terry said. Senior Josh Poloski, who lives with his fellow brothers of TKE, said he tends to go to the laundromat down the street from his house.

“It’s just easier and much more convenient to do laundry outside of our house, especially because the washing machine hardly ever works,” Poloski said.

Another senior, Shannon Duffy, said she has no problems doing laundry at her house.

Duffy lives with her boyfriend and said they have never had an issue with it. “It’s so great living off campus because I can do laundry whenever I want and no one touches it,” Duffy said. However, she said she remembers having problems with laundry when she lived on campus.

“It was always so annoying when people moved my clothes. I would come downstairs just a minute after my laundry was done and it would already be on the floor or on top of the machine,” Duffy said, “I hear it’s become a lot better now that laundry is free, but why can’t people wait a couple minutes?” Duffy continued, “I know it’s probably gotten a lot easier to do laundry on campus now that it’s part of tuition for this past year, but students are always going to have issues with it. It’s just an annoying thing everyone has to do.”

Stephanie McCann can be contacted at smccann@kscequinox.com

As the semester continues, active Keene State College students are putting on their workout clothes and getting themselves motivated to go to the gym.

However, many of these fitness junkies have a different idea of what to wear while working out.

KSC senior Remi Chiovaro said, “Some people wear old baggy t-shirts and others wear really expensive clothes to exercise in.”

Chiovaro said she works out every day and has always noticed a difference in what people wear to the gym.

“It’s so interesting to see what everyone chooses to wear. It’s like dressing for anything else in life. Some people try to be extra fashionable and spend lots of money on gym clothes and other people just don’t care,” Chiovaro said, “The nicer workout clothes can get really pricey.”

Sophomore Kaitlyn Powers is among those who enjoy splurging on more fashionable workout clothes.

“I love dressing for the gym. I usually just wear leggings and a tank top when I go, but I spend a lot of money every year to get the nicer brands,” Powers said, “I see other girls wearing Nike and Adidas a lot. I mostly wear Lululemon because I think it fits best for working out.”

According to their website, Lululemon is a “yoga-inspired athletic apparel brand” founded in 1998, but Chiovaro said it has only recently been made popular for college students and young people.

“Lululemon is huge now, but it kind of just came out of nowhere,” Chiovaro said, “Everyone wears their workout clothes and leggings with their little symbol on it. It’s all really expensive, but they fit nicely.”

Powers emphasized that the fit of her gym clothes is important to her.

“You want something that is easy to workout in and looks good too. I think that’s different for everyone,” Powers said.

KSC senior Tori Folk agreed that people wear what they feel most comfortable in.

“Working out isn’t a pretty sight in general so sometimes people might want to dress a little bit nicer,” Folk said, “I know I like wearing brighter colors and not too many layers because I know I’ll be sweating a lot.”

Folk said she sees a lot of trends in women’s gym clothes.

“Girls love wearing bright leggings with lots of patterns, headbands, tops with patterns on them or bright sports bras,” Folk said.

Chiovaro said that her gym attire makes her more motivated to go and actually work out.

“I get so excited when I buy nice gym clothes. It honestly makes working out much more appealing to me and it definitely motivates me to go [to the gym] more,” Chiovaro said.

However, Folk said there’s a large difference in what women wear to the gym versus what men wear.

“From what I can see, I feel like girls spend much more money on gym clothes than guys. I think guys can just pull off wearing old an old t-shirt or something like that when they’re working out,” Folk said.

Folk said she thinks this is a double-standard.

“Girls are kind of expected to look good even at the gym and guys can just wear whatever they want,” Folk said, “I’m sure they spend money on their gym clothes too, but it’s different.”

Senior Elton Purvis, who said he spends a lot of time at the gym, agreed there is a difference between what men and women wear to the gym.

“I mean, everyone dresses how they want to dress at the gym. Some of it is for comfort and practicality, but I know a lot of girls who put thought into it,” Purvis said, “Guys can kind of just put on a cut-off t-shirt and a hat and just go.”

Purvis said he sees a lot of men at the gym with the sleeves cut off their t-shirts. He said he believes this has become a sort of trend in the exercise world.

Chiovaro said she believes there is a double standard with how much skin can be shown.

“I saw a guy at the gym last week who was legitimately shirtless working out. Like, you’re not allowed to do that but no one really questioned him,” Chiovaro said, “I’ve also seen girls wearing crop tops or sports bras while they’re on the treadmill and everyone kind of looks at them like they’re crazy.”

Chiovaro said she does not believe it’s appropriate for too much skin to be shown while working out.

When it comes down to it, Purvis said that people just choose to wear what they’re comfortable in.

“What you wear to the gym should be based on what you feel best sweating in. Not everyone likes the feeling of certain materials so I think everyone chooses what they feel best in,” Purvis said.

Stephanie McCann can be contacted at smccann@kscequinox.com