It's the second week of classes and I've already gotten a "viral infection" that just "needs to run its course."

I'm defiantly that person who ritually gets sick whenever someone around them complains about having a sore throat or gets coughed on once. My sister even talked to me before I left for school saying "I don't know what your gonna do because you have the immune system of an ant." I brushed it off and said I'd be fine. But here we are two weeks in and I'm spitting bloody phlegm, sorry for the gross visual.

It started with my roommate saying she had a sore throat that gradually transitioned to her coughing a little and spitting phlegm too. I knew I was getting sick when my body began to ache, I was always cold, even with the Charleston humidity, and I couldn't stay awake. One minute I'm laying in bed under two different blankets in a sweatshirt cold as the tundra and the next I'm having to sleep in my bra with a blanket barely on me. I've basically been living my past days in a Dayquil haze full of trying to pay attention in classes and coming back to nap for the rest of the day.

The lady at public health services called me a trooper for still going to classes "because its hard to balance everything on top of being sick". But I've gotten all too good at it. My junior year of high school second semester I had walking pneumonia, bronchitis-like twice and a handful of sinus infections. I missed finals week because I was in the hospital, I guess you could say I'm good at getting sick.

Apparently, it's pretty common to get sick within the first semester of your freshmen year because your body is trying to adjust to so many new things at once, there are all kinds of new stress being put onto your body. I've been living off of the Immunity Booster drink from Clean juice and vitamin C gummies I picked up at CVS. The key is to keep your eating and sleeping habits in check. I'm just grateful I had loving suitemates to take care of me, like making sure I went to health services to make an appointment and other friends for making sure I ate, took medicine and made me tea with a honey stir.

This is the first, and for sure not the last, time I'll be getting sick this school year.