College is full of new experiences. You are given the chance to grow as a person and offered some great opportunities throughout your post-secondary education. However, flu season just happens to be in the middle of the semester for us. So that means at some point during your college career, you will get sick.

Being sick in college is a lot different than being in sick at home for a multitude of reasons. One reason is that your parents are not there to take care of you. They are the ones that make sure you are taking your medicine on time, that you are getting plenty of rest and making a doctors appointment for you if you need one.

When you are away at college, you are expected to do all of that on your own.

If you are like me, you don't even have the energy to get out of bed let alone pick up the phone to call the doctor. My mom even packed me a huge container of everything I would need in case I did get sick. Even then, you don't realize how much you rely on your parents until you get sick while at college.

Another thing about being sick while in college is missing class. This semester, I woke up with a 100-degree fever on my busiest day of the week which consists of four classes and two meetings. I had to miss every single thing going on that day. A week later and I still am not caught up on all the work I have to do. The worst part is that some classes in college take attendance. Some teachers are real sticklers on missing their class so to even be excused, you need a doctor's note. Some say that if you simply have a cold you need to miss class! And then if you have a doctor's appointment for a cold, they look at you weird and wonder why the heck you came to the doctor, to begin with! When you're sick at home, your mom or dad would call the school to say that you are sick and would be excused from classes. Just like that, you didn't have to go in that day. Catching up on schoolwork would be tough, but most teachers would give you another couple days to get the homework finished.

The one positive thing about being sick in college is that you have an excuse to do absolutely nothing for the time you are sick. That means Netflix all day or taking naps whenever you want to without any guilt. If you have an awesome roommate or friends (like I do), they will get you anything you need. Whether that is food or medicine or just something to make you smile like your favorite chocolate candy.

Being sick sucks. It's your body saying that you need to slow down because there is just way too much happening. It is important to always get plenty of rest (no all-nighters please), be aware of what kind of food you are putting into your body, drink plenty of fluids like water or tea if you like that kind of thing, and relax. Your body will heal on its own time. When you are back on your feet again, you will appreciate being healthy once again.