(March 23, 2007) — Senior Arin Gharibian sits up in his bed, hits the snooze button on his alarm clock, and lays his head back down on the pillow. A minute later he jumps out of bed and frantically searches for his wallet and car keys. One seemingly insignificant step forward, and he finds his naked foot buried in the chocolate pudding he had left on the floor from the night before. “I was late to school because of the mess, but I don’t ever have time to clean,” Gharibian said. “It hurts me in the end because I can’t ever find anything.” Gharibian’s case is not a unique one; messy rooms are an epidemic that runs rampant in virtually every teenager-occupied household. The solution to this pseudo-epidemic: cleaning! In essence, cleaning one’s room has become a lost art. However, most would agree that it will prove useful once the teen is off in the real world renting his or her own apartment. “When things are cluttered around my office, it takes longer for me to find something and it is really frustrating,” counselor Linda Doll said. As a freshman in college, Doll learned that the best way to avoid headaches from a disorganized workspace was to prioritize and get things cleaned on time. “Cleaning is essential for survival and efficiency,” Doll said. For some teens, like senior Stella Zaryan, cleanliness and organization (which was once forced upon her by her grandmother), has now become a fundamental habit. “I always write down my homework in my planner and stay neat because I feel more responsible and on top of things,” Zaryan said. For those disorganized individuals in the world, worry not. Some students have learned to cope with their messy rooms and chaotic lives and are only too willing to impart their wisdom upon others. “My advice on having a clean and organized room is to clean your room the second it’s dirty and not put it off until it piles up. Once I see my dirty clothes on the ground I quickly grab the laundry basket and toss them in,” senior Joseph Tanielian said.