I went through the first semester of college without getting sick at all and to be honest I was shocked.
I thought I had a pretty great immune system and I must have been a super hero…. Flashward to second semester and I have the worst cold of my life! (no lie) so I have determined that getting a cold in college is the absolute worst!
1. Your mom and dad aren’t there to cater to your needs
This is a real problem, living at home they would always ask “do you want soup?” – eat some fruit and here is some medicine. And sometimes in the middle of the night they would bring you a glass of water and some cough syrup because you were coughing your guts out….. Now? I have to figure out everything on my own and it sucks from having to go out and buy my soup and help myself. I definitely took that parent aspect of my life for granted.
2. Trying not to get everyone around you sick
It is college, you are surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of people daily and having that gut feeling walking around knowing your under the weather and you could spread your nasty germs to them at any moment sucks. Today in fact I started coughing in class and my professor goes, “You know you fail my class if you get me sick?!” haha thanks :(
3. Hoping you won’t get the roomie or close friends sick
I have been under the weather for two weeks now and how I have not gotten the roomie sick yet dumbfounds me! She deserves an MVP award for best immune system and best roomie ever for putting up with my never ending coughing and blowing my nose every 10 min in the middle of the night… just please keep praying that she stays in good health. Then there are the friends… two of my friends everyday I am waiting on to get sick because both drank after me this past week. Why? Who knows but I know that wasn’t a great choice they could have made… so?
4. Shopping for your own medicine
Not going to lie I did not think it would be this hard to shop for cough syrup (after the fourth bottle I got this week I am now a pro, so I’m good now) There are so many brands and different components they come with! Do you want nighttime or maximum strength or non drowsy? This alone made me want to start crying and call my mom for help.
But oh no once you get to the cashier is when it becomes a nightmare. I know I am only 18 but asking to see my ID and staring at it for 30 sec and me being able to tell you do not want to sell me the bottle of cough syrup for some odd reason or just standing there reading the package (yes fyi it does say 18 and up to purchase so I promise you can sell it to me) does not make a sick person feel at all that great. Plus I look sick and am coughing all over the place so what do you think I am going to do with the cough syrup? And I promise my driver’s license is real!
5. This ain’t like middle or high school sweetie!
In high or middle school it was not a big deal missing a class here and there or you could get that test or quiz postponed… in college it does not work like that and most often than not a professor will give you a zero if you do not show up for class for the exam and most professors do not do make up exams!