If your home was anything like the one I grew up in, there was one thing that could always spike a family argument: the dishes. Who was doing them, who left them in the sink, who let the dog escape with the spatula—the battle seemed to be never ending.

I began to hate the dishes. I came to realize that if I didn’t do my dishes, I was going to be in a world of trouble. I don’t think I figured out that the easiest way to escape this problem until my senior year of high school. It seems like rocket science, but to avoid the problem of dishes all together, all you have to do is rinse them off and put them in the dishwasher as soon as you’ve finished eating.

My parents would probably argue that I still haven’t learned. I’m pretty sure I still got in trouble for leaving a plate in the sink over Christmas Break.

Regardless, growing up I was always irritated with how obsessed my parents seemed to be about the dishes. There were definitely unnecessary fights about plates left in the sink and fights to the near death with my siblings on who was going to have to do the dreaded task. There are countless times I remember being scolded for what I believed was such an overreaction. Was it really such a big deal that I left a dirty plate in the sink?

And now, I realize how big of a deal it actually is.

Being away at college has introduced me to all different types of people. And I’ve definitely met people that I can tell never had to wash their dishes.

The biggest thing preached in my home was to leave things better than we found them. It doesn’t matter what the circumstance, whether figurative or literal, we were to leave things better than we found them.

In retrospect, that was the best lesson I could have ever been taught. It has influenced everything that I do in my life. It could be a mundane task such as washing dishes, to something that is on a much bigger scale, such as influencing a group of people and trying to make a difference.

Leaving things better than you found them is definitely easier said than done, but I really believe it is something we should all strive for. It can be applied in all areas of life, and once started, it usually becomes a habit.

As I become more independent, I become more thankful for the life lessons that my parents taught me along the way. I am thankful I was constantly badgered about something so simple as dishes. It shows how much my parents genuinely cared for me, and it taught me to have respect for leaving things better than I found them.

And now, in my shoebox-sized dorm room, even in a sink without a disposal, I never fail to have a stack of clean dishes before the day is over.