How do you handle it? The answer: good friends.
My first red flag? I woke up with a sore throat. Automatically, I was on edge knowing that this could possibly turn into the last thing I needed: a cold. I carried on with my day, attended my classes and went on apartment tours, but by about 5 p.m., it was game over for me. I woke up from my nap with all the symptoms: a headache, a fever and the sore throat that was still there. It was time to admit it—I was sick.
Being sick is no fun and that is just the fact. No one enjoys it, and I was doing my best to avoid the sickness, but with the way it had been making its way around campus, I knew it was bound to happen. After admitting defeat, I did the only logical thing and called my mom. After complaining to her about how terrible I felt and listening to the advice for what exactly I should do, I almost felt worse. This fell at the worst time, with a million papers being due, classes that were essential to attend and Halloween weekend coming up. I emailed my TAs and professors and explained the situation, and they understood, but there were some deadlines that could not be changed. All I could do was take care of myself, put my health first and not risk getting anyone else sick.
Honestly, besides the unbearable pain, the break from classes was not too bad. I just sat in my room and watched TV, did some homework and napped. But the worst part was that I couldn’t see my friends because I didn’t want them to also get sick. Luckily, I have amazing friends who were there for me. They ran to Walgreens to get me medicine when I literally couldn’t move, hung out with me with masks until I got my COVID test results back and offered to get me food. Living in the dorms means we are all so tight together and being able to have this support was able to make me feel better. Good support made up for the lack of comfort I usually get at home, where I can lay in my bed without climbing up a ladder.
After I got sick, the sickness spread to my friends and we had a chill weekend, lying around sick and miserable in the same room. It was comforting to be able to be there for each other, share the secrets of getting over these illnesses and to complain about the homesickness we felt during this time. While I was feeling terrible, I also felt extremely grateful for my friends at this time, who hadn’t known me that long but were so caring. It’s extremely tough to be sick in college because of how behind you can fall, but I found I was able to find a decent balance between resting and working.
Overall, if you know your own limits and have a good support system surrounding you with people who care about you, being sick isn’t so bad.