You wake up in the morning. Turn over to hit the snooze on your alarm. Sit up and rub your eyes ever so slightly. Yawn and stretch. You swallow slowly and feel your itchy, scratchy, red, swollen throat. You want to ask your mom if you can stay home from school for the day but, oh yeah, you are away at college.

A homesick freshman's worst nightmare.

Thank goodness you woke up early because now you have to figure out what the heck you are going to do.

You can't think about what you are going to do because you miss your bed. The feeling of the mattress that has molded your body ever so perfectly into its fluffiness. The feeling of the plush pillows cushioning your head. Instead, you are stuck with a cardboard mattress with a crappy egg crate mattress topper, and two two dollar pillows from Walmart. You turn over and curl up. Do you even have any medicine to take? When are you going to get some? Should you make an appointment, wait how do you even do that?

Just keep telling yourself, I will get through this, only four classes today then I can relax. While dreading getting up to go to classes you think about your cat. He always comes to snuggle when you are sick! Oh wait, he's at home. Now you are even more homesick, whilst being sick-sick. I just want my mom and dad. Is wanting your mom and dad a bad thing? Shouldn't you be independent? Should you let them know you are sick?

You sit up and slide off of your bed onto the cold floor. Sniffles and coughing are in full force. Always be sure to keep cold medicine in the dorm, and don't forget to take it. Mom and dad are not going to call you every four hours to remind you. Even though you think you feel 'fine', make an appointment with the school doctor.

At the end of the day, you are going to college for a reason, no not to party silly, but to get an education. In sickness and in health you have said "I do" to the vows of your school, and in those vows all classes are to be attended. The world does not stop just because you are sick, or for any other reason (that I know of).

All in all, as a college student, you need rest. Yes, you need to study, and go to swim practice, and study for the chemistry exam, but you also need to take time for yourself. Rest is not only a sick college student's best friend but any college student's best friend. Oh yeah, and make sure to tell your parents if you are sick, they want to know that kind of stuff.