Sometimes getting sick in high school was the best because you got to stay home with no worries (besides the sick part). With just that one magic phone call from your parent you can skip all your classes, practices, and everything else you had to do.
On the other hand, if you fall ill while you're in school, you can just go to the nurse's office and lay down while you wait for someone to pick you up. Everything changes once you're in college, and here are some reasons why it's the worst:
You can only hope you have the best roommate (and friends) in the world.
Luckily for me, my roommate had all the things I didn't like a thermometer, extra medicine, and soup. But it's most likely that most people will not have this. You'll go back to your room sick and just be on your own because your friends are probably busy and if the person who is physically present can't help you, well then, you're on your own.
You have to walk and carry your body to the health center because you need that doctor's note.
And once you get to the front desk, it's like an interrogation. Suddenly, you need to become an expert on insurance policies and medical bills. The worst part is, if you're missing class, you still need to go just to get that doctors note even if you think you can survive in bed.
You just have to sit there and suffer through class; no one is going to pick you up.
Sometimes you might think it's still a good idea to show up to class because you don't know what you might miss, only to soon realize that it was a bad idea and you end up sitting as you slowly die. You can't focus, and you could have stayed home, but now you have to walk all the way back. Lose-lose.
You'll have to cancel all the plans you've made and try to not get everyone else sick.
You're probably already busy enough as a student, but you still manage to have a social life. And now you'll have to cancel and make sure you don't come off as flakey because we all know you've cancelled plans before just to stay at home and watch Netflix.
Buying your own medicine is a struggle when you're also broke.
All you want to do is stay in bed, but if you don't have medicine, someone's going to have to get it. If you don't have that amazing roommate, it will have to be you. Once you get to the pharmacy you notice how expensive medicine really is.
Your mom isn't there to take care of you.
All in all, the biggest difference is that you don't have your parents to watch over you. While you're sick you won't have your loving mother to come and rub your tummy, bring you your medicine, check your temperature, and of course, make you food (that is, if you can eat). After attempting to take care of yourself, though, you realize how hard it must be to be a parent.
Soon enough, you'll get the hang of it. And I don't mean you're going to get sick often; you'll learn what it really takes to take care of yourself, which means making good decisions and going with your gut.
