It's that time of year where colds are spreading and diseases are developing among the student body. Sneezing and coughing replace smiling and laughing. You lie in your bed in agony awaiting your fictional demise. College campuses always face the threat of mass infections during the colder months. It's common knowledge that there are certain stages of getting sick.
1. Exposure
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Your friend sneezes during the movie. The kid beside you coughs in class. You've been exposed. This is the first stage of getting sick. Sometimes you notice and take preventative measures like chugging some OJ or using vitamins. But, often this stage goes completely unnoticed.
2. It begins
You wake up with a stuffy nose and think nothing of it. Perhaps it's only allergies or the air quality was bad overnight. The next day, it get's a little worse. Eventually, you realize it's happening. You're getting sick. Let the panic ensue.
3. "Just a stuffy nose" becomes "I'm slowly dying"
Coughing and wheezing overtake your life. The germs are spreading through your airways and clogging up your respiratory track. You pray that it doesn't turn into an infection.
4. The sinus cavities transform
After the initial days of horror, you realize there's an even worse feeling sinking in. There's massive pressure behind your eyes and in your cheeks. You're experiencing sinus pressure. The worst stage of all.
5. Deception
There's always one day during a period of sickness that feels like the beginning of the end. You think to yourself, maybe it's almost over. Wrong. It's just a lucky day. Or perhaps you took enough meds to create an illusion. The next day, you feel sick again. It's just the circle of life, my friend.
6. Lost hope
By this time, you've lost all hope. You dream about the days you could breathe normally and it all seems like some type of fantasy. You've given up. You'll never be normal again. This is your new life and you better get used to it. (In reality, it's only been like three days.)
7. Hope returns
Either you've gone to the doctor and retrieved a cure or you've started to actually feel better on your own. Either way, you feel a sliver of hope return and your joyous mood carries you through.
8. The beginning of the end
You're well enough to go to class or participate in events. You're not longer contagious and can be a member of society again. This is the beginning of the end. You can see the end of the tunnel.
9. Almost forgotten
You suddenly feel as if it were all a dream. A small sniffle can't hold you down. You barely recognize the final cries of the disease coming from within. The sniffles, the throat clearing, none of those things are stopping you from getting better.
10. Back to normal
There's no sign of the illness within you. You've won the battle. It's over and you can celebrate now.
