You all know the feeling I have right now. The second round of midterms is fast approaching, even though I feel like I just took the first round a few days ago. And, as if I didn’t already have enough on my plate this week, my body decided to shut down.
I’m sick. You know how it goes… You spend too much time working, too much time stressing, and not enough time sleeping. It’s a recipe for disaster. Without fail, every time this happens, you start to feel unwell. Your body starts to struggle to keep you healthy, and you start to drag.
At times, this ends in you being sick for your exam and not doing your best. You have the sniffles and a cough, and as you sneeze your way through the test, you annoy everyone in the room (including yourself). You shatter the silence with snuffles and coughs and sneezes and other noises that are simply unwelcome in a testing situation.
It’s embarrassing, but more that that, it just totally sucks. How can you perform your best if you aren’t feeling your best? Here’s a list of ways to avoid getting that mild flu or other unwelcome sickness while cramming for that big exam.
- Wash your hands. Constantly. Although this may not have anything to do with your study habits in particular, you tend to get sick if you come into contact with germs. When you’re stressed, your immune system can’t fight off these germs, so you end up getting sick from bacteria or viruses that generally wouldn’t harm you.
- Get enough sleep. I know, you’re all college students with a lot to do and little time for rest, but when you’re starting to get sick, getting sleep is the best way to fight it off. Do what you need to do during the day to guarantee you get at least eight hours of sleep at night. Do whatever it takes. Your body will thank you
- Hydrate. Drink water throughout the day. Even if you aren’t thirsty, keep drinking! When your immune system is working hard to fight off sicknesses, water will fuel it to keep working.
- Study for a week, don’t cram for a day. First off, this helps you to learn better. But secondly, if you’re under high pressure and stressing out, your body is much more likely to succumb to illness. If you study for days in advance, you can study for shorter periods of time, and have time to de-stress. By the time the test comes, you’ll be totally confident in your ability to ace it!
- Eat well. Eat healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, and proteins to keep up your strength. Sugars and starches induce inflammation, so if you’re feeling sick, they may make it worse. Steer clear of those, and instead reach for a salad or a burger.
Remember that if you’re starting to get sick, the most you can do to help your situation is to relax. Get some rest, drink some soup, and study in bed—but don’t fall asleep while studying! Worst comes to worst, tell your teacher that you’re sick! Usually professors will have a make-up exam for those situations when students can’t take the actual exam. It’s better to take the make-up if you aren’t going to perform well on the day of the exam.