Just this past week, I suffered from a regular winter-time cold. Nothing too serious or life threatening, just a simple seasonal sickness. If I were home, this would have been no big deal; I would have likely continued with my life and not skipped a beat. However, being that I was sick at school without my mom here or the comfort of my own home, this regular cold almost felt as if it were the end of the world. While under the weather, these were some of the thoughts going through my head that you can probably relate to if you’ve ever been sick at school at some point.
1. *Calls mom* “Wait, so how many Advil is it safe to take?”
2. Not wanting to be that annoying person in class who keeps sneezing, so holding it in for as long as possible is the only option.
3. Waking up for an 8 a.m. but just wanting to stay in bed instead so you can rest yourself back to health.
4. Buying ALL the Emergen-C that the bookstore sells as if it’s going to magically turn the cold around.
5. Walking to the dining hall and praying they are serving chicken noodle soup that day.
6. *Looks at picture of self from a week ago and reminisces on how amazing it felt not to be sick* “Wow, look how happy and great life was when I was healthy…I’ll never feel that way again”.
7. Feeling terrible but knowing that skipping class is not an option because you will be 7 weeks behind after missing just one class.
8. Not wanting to annoy your roommate while coughing/blowing your nose constantly in the middle of the night.
9. Walking to class in 20-degree weather knowing that you are only getting sicker.
10. Just wishing you were at home feeling cozy in your own bed with your mom there to help you recover from this awful cold.
Although the cold may have put a damper on my week, it really wasn’t that bad. I was able to get through it and now know how to conquer being sick while away from home for the next time it happens. And let’s face it, that next time is probably going to come sooner than later because college is basically equivalent to a daycare with all those germs along with the high chances of getting sick while living in such close quarters. In the meantime, I guess my hand sanitizer will have to be my best friend.