Getting sick is one of the worst feelings ever. But being sick in college is a million times worse. Usually, when you start to feel the onset of the horrors of a cold, you can appeal to the wisdom of your mother and there is a whole cabinet of medicine at your disposal. At home, you can trudge around in fuzzy slippers and a tissue box and watch Netflix until you fall asleep. At college, all of that is gone, and instead, you have to take care of yourself…alone. And that’s hard enough without a cold or fever incapacitating you to do any work whatsoever. And so, here is a list of grievances stemming from the, not one, but two times I have already fallen ill within two months of college:
1. Feeling guilty about sniffling/coughing constantly during class and exams
2. Choosing between going to your early morning classes or taking care of yourself (hint: taking care of yourself is probably more important and course captured lectures are a blessing)
3. Waking up your roommates with coughing fits in the middle of the night
4. Dealing with the mountain of tissues that inevitably builds up on your desk
5. Missing out because you’re contagious
6. Putting off that paper/project/studying for that test due to major exhaustion
7. Dragging yourself out of bed to go get food
8. No homemade soup
9. Scrambling to finish the assignments you couldn’t complete because you slept for 14 hours straight
10. Convincing yourself you’re well enough to go to class, even if you know it isn’t true
11. Realizing too late that you definitely weren’t well enough to go to class
So if you’re like me and you’ve become ill during midterm season, good luck and get well soon. But if you’re not sick yet and still have hope, please take better care of yourself than I did.
