I thought that I managed to escape this season's flu epidemic, but it eventually caught up to me. After spending most of my time fighting it and using Purell and Lysol everywhere, I must have slipped up somewhere along the way. Welcome to the Influenza of 2018: College Edition.
There comes that struggle when we don't know whether it's worth missing class because we are sick. While most professors encourage us to stay home to rest up and avoid spreading the flu any more than it already is, it's hard to choose between our health and school, especially when we are paying to be here and we want to make it worth our while.
The idea of not coming to class when sick is all well and good, but the idea is nearly impossible to carry out. It's not like in high school- where all you have to do is have your mom call in and the teachers are happy to fill you in the day you get back.
Sometimes being sick in high school was a blessing in disguise because that meant staying home (and being able to make up that test you missed was a piece of cake). Being sick in college is a harsh reality and a whole other ballgame. Being sick in college is nearly impossible. Missing 10 minutes of a lecture is equivalent to missing one week of high school. Students would rather go to class sick than rest up and risk their grade dropping.
We can try to go to class and look cute. The reality of it is that no matter how much makeup we put on or how cute we dress, on the inside, we know that we are on the verge of having a coughing fit or a sneeze attack. We may look like we have it together, but we are one sneeze away from falling apart.
And how difficult is it to concentrate when you have a pounding headache? I know that I haven't been able to focus on work while I have been sick. Every time I tried to read an assignment, I fell asleep. Take it from someone who hasn't been seriously feverish since the 8th grade (I really took pride in that, too) imagine my difficulty trying to keep it all together, but this time in college.
And all we want to do is sleep and drink tea and blow our noses as loudly as we want to.
And sometimes it's hard to catch back up once you've missed just one class! Office hours, office hours, office hours! The flu got you down once, come back stronger the second time and show the flu who is boss!
All we need when we are sick is our parents to take care of us, but sometimes that is not possible in a college dorm setting. Of course, there is always a helpful roomie, but there's always the fear of getting them sick. There is nothing like being home when you're sick. Nothing beats the soup that they make (even if it's canned, it's always the perfect temperature) or the tea that they brew for you.
Remember to Purell, use antibacterial sprays, and drink lots of OJ. Chicken soup is delicious, and although tea is not my cup of tea (LOL, get it)? I force myself to drink it because apparently, it is super duper helpful. Stay healthy, my pals.
