It's a beautiful day. You're enjoying college life; maybe to a different extent than those around you, but enjoying nonetheless. Maybe this is your first year and you can't believe you're finally free of high school and your parents. Of course you still love your parents but the new-found freedom is gratifying.

All of the sudden, it happens: the sore throat, stuffy nose, exhaustion. Something appears like a leech that makes you realize you are getting sick.

You think to yourself, "Can I get rid of it?" You get Emergen-C and start chugging it like it may make a difference.

Ultimately, you get worse and you realize that you didn't need to chug all that nasty Emergen-C because it didn't actually help you. Now you have to prepare for the sickness.

But since this is the first cold of college, you realize you won't have your parents there to help you. Maybe freedom isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The sickness descends and you realize this might be the end. You're convinced you are actually going to die.

All of a sudden, all your friends leave you.

Maybe they leave because they're afraid you'll do this.

You go to the store to get medicine and you realize that you don't even know what to get. You can't remember what you used to take at home. You start believing all the meds will help cure your cold in two seconds. You buy a few things, but you still have the same length cold. The medication just made things a bit better.

The smallest improvements are milestones in your book. Even if you have three seconds of relief.

As the days go on, however, you do get better. You look back on your worst days in triumph that you did in fact survive your first cold in college.

And now that you're better, you get to look around at all the other people getting sick.

Stay healthy my friends.