Being sick at college is the worst because there's no one to take care of you and, more importantly, there's no one to pity you.
When You First Start Showing Symptoms
You feel your nose start to run and a sense of doom sets in and that's when you know. Everyone around you has been sick for days and the signs are all there—the only thing you can hope for is that this time it will be different; this time it will just be a light cold and it will come and go like a summer breeze.
When You Know It's More Than Just The Sniffles
You're sitting in your dorm room with a trash bag full of used tissues wondering why Satan has entered your sinuses and excreted the gates of hell out of your nostrils.
When You Email Your Professors and Say You're Too Sick for Class
You have to embellish the severity of your illness a little bit so that your professors know there's no way you can attend class. Try to make it sound as delirious as possible to suggest that you basically sent it seconds before a fever dream set in.
When Someone Tells You to Just Drink Some Tea and Suck It Up
Honestly, it is the absolute worst when you've been complaining all day and you just want everyone to feel bad for you and you get shut down by that one kid who has no compassion for your devastating situation.
When You Push Yourself To Go Out And Have Fun
It's never a good time being the sick friend in the group. No one will share their drinks with you, or let you double dip, or even give you a hug. And then you're a grump the whole time until you end up going home early.
When Your Friends Try To Comfort You
There's always that one friend who never says the right thing in our time of need: "Just power through it" or "You don't look sick" or the worst is "I'm sick but I still went to class." We all struggle on different levels and some friends just have aren't courteous about our sensitive disposition.
When You Finally Feel Better
The storm has passed and your health has returned. Now you get to look on and laugh from the other side as your friends take the same journey of sickness that you did. The freedom of strength has never tasted so sweet.
