Lo and behold, your immune system has failed you yet again. Like a troupe of scorned ex-lovers, your white blood cells banded together, said “screw it,” and went off to do better things out of spite, all the while drinking gin & tonics and laughing while you’re suffering.
What do you do when you get sick, normally? Rest and fluids? Yeah, sure, that’s great!
What do you do when you get sick and have 3 midterms staring you in the face? Panic.
Okay, we got this. We’ll get through this.
1. Do all your normal sick-things. That means: fluids, rest, and healthy foods.
Fluids: This isn’t the time to try out your new fad no-fluid diet or assume that pounding beers 24 hours out of the day will make you feel better. Drink a ton of fluids - although water is great, it’s okay to drink sugary things like Gatorade if they go down easier. Tea is the total package: tastes great, low calorie, and the steam helps you breathe easy. Add honey for an extra-soothing effect!
Rest: Rest, rest, rest. Just when you think you’ve rested enough, rest some more. Do as the koalas do, and sleep 16-18 hours of the day.
Okay, that’s unrealistic as a college student. But rest as much as possible - don’t go out unnecessarily, and cancel every plan that isn’t vital.
Food: Keep up on nutrients - eat a healthy balance (even more so than usual) of nutrients - especially fruits containing vitamins C, D, and zinc (such as oranges, bananas, pomegranates).
2. See a doctor.
That’s right - go trek to the dreaded school health center. You’ll get any medication you may need, and you’ll have some arguing power if it comes to the point where you have to contact a professor to reschedule a midterm. Also, you'll have a professional diagnosing you - not WebMD.
3. Contact your professors.
This is the biggie - contacting your professor. If it comes to the point where you're genuinely feeling too ill to study/test to your full capacity, reach out to your professors! They aren't here to fail you and laugh maniacally as they watch you take a midterm while sick with strep. Contact all of your professors that you have exams with, and explain the situation. Tell them how it is: you've been to the health center, you're on medication, you've been resting, but you can't seem to shake the cold and you're worried it'll hinder your ability to perform on the exam. Many professors will offer to have you take the exam at a later date, or factor the midterm out of your grade - all professors have different policies regarding rescheduling midterms, so make sure you find out.
4. When all else fails, just keep on keepin’ on.
This too shall pass - this sucky week will be over soon. Although you're probably going to feel like crap all week, you'll get through it. It'll be worth it when you get your good grades back - and it'll be worth it when you can finally breathe again and it doesn't feel like you're swallowing glass every time you try to drink water. These midterms aren't the be-all, end-all of your grade - even if you didn't do as well as you hoped, you can always reach out to your professor and remind them you were ill - they may be willing to offer you some extra work to help get your grade back up.
Don't beat yourself up for getting sick...everyone gets sick, and you just happened to get sick at a particularly unlucky time. Be well, and maybe go invest in some Emergen-C.
