Suddenly waking at four in the morning to the excruciating pain of a tension headache, the throbbing overtook me as I sat in my bed wincing from the pain. Thinking it would go away by going back to sleep, I was mistaken when I woke up an hour later with an even worse headache.

Not knowing what to do, I attempted to smother myself in lavender lotion thinking the smell would sooth the pain. On the verge of tears, cuddling my now lavender infused blanket did not help.

Needless to say, the fact winter break was over and classes were resuming in just a few hours had me worried. Questions starting rushing throughout my head. Will I be able to go to class? Will I be able to concentrate? Will I even be able to get out of bed?

The Ibuprofen I took did very little. I decided to live through the pain and headed out to my first class. Thankfully enough, my headache subsided and I was able to survive through my classes. Thinking I was cured, I decided to go practice oboe.

Big mistake. After every scale, every attempt, the headache came back as bad as ever. I sat through the pain because no pain no gain, right? Wrong. I left the practice session vowing to avoid playing the oboe while stuck with this headache.

One problem. The first rehearsal of concert band was an hour away and missing the first class was pretty much out of the question. I emailed my professor about my concerns, but after receiving no response, I realized I had to drag myself to that rehearsal and tell him myself.

After the warming advice from my professor to "take care of myself," I trudged back to my apartment and took a nap that lasted the entirety of the rehearsal.

The day was not over, unfortunately. I had to make an appearance at The Badger Herald to meet with my fellow copy associates. My copy chief, Peyton, gave me similar advice as my professor.

What a stressful day. I went to bed with high hopes but awoke the next morning with the same throbbing headache. Ibuprofen doesn't work, lavender lotion doesn't work, nothing works. I thought I would be cursed with this headache forever.

Soon enough, by the end of the day, I put some ice on my head and finally I was freed from the excruciating pain. What did I learn? Ibuprofen doesn't cure tension headaches.