The day before spring break, I was coughing and sneezing like never before. It was just constant, non-stop, coughing and sneezing. All the time. No breaks in between. My body was sore and my head was killing me. I thought it was allergies because of the pollen outside so I took a Benadryl as soon as I got home and passed out until the next day. I had dreams of amusement parks.

Cut to the next scene of me at the medical center the next day — my spring break had begun. My head was pounding. I felt like someone had dropped an anvil on my head when I woke up. I felt as if I had a wild time at a 3 day party and had finally woken up from my bad decisions. I wanted to get checked out because it was so horrible, unlike anything I’ve ever had before, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t actually dying.

This semester has been pretty rough for me. The week before spring break, I had four 10-page papers due. I was so ready to take advantage of this spring break to go to the beach, spend the day at Six Flags Great Adventure, hang out with my friends, even. But instead, I found myself diagnosed with an ear infection and sinus congestion.

I had to pick up my prescribed amoxicillin later that day at my local pharmacy. They are huge capsules that I had to take twice a day for 10 days. Side effects include: nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea. Luckily, I only had to deal with nausea, which is nothing new to me. But I had to cross amusement parks from the list. The antibiotic also makes me pretty sleepy and lethargic. I stay extremely local to my house, as in I don’t leave my area on most days.

As I’m writing this, on April 15, there are only five more days until the break is over. Five more days until I have to take my hour and a half commute back to school every day, and start to work on finals. For some reason, Hunter College’s spring break is way too close to the end of the semester, which only makes the last “half” of the semester go by even more painful slow for students.

I have caught up on a lot of sleep though. During the semester, I usually get about five to six hours of sleep. But I’ve been sleeping seven to eight hours every night lately, which is such a luxury for me. I think that was a plus. I spent a lot of time with my dog who kept me company while I felt horrible, so that was sweet. Hopefully, I’m able to get a better break in before I start summer classes.