I have been sick ever since this school semester started. It's not uncommon for students to get sick after being away from other students, people who don't wash their hands or cover their coughs or sneezes. I, however, have been sick for much longer and with more severity than my classmates.

Colleges are different from public schools in that they don't regulate the absences a student is allowed to have. Though the student is paying for everything on campus, including their education, it is the teacher who decides how many absences a student is allowed to have. It can vary greatly per teacher. I've read horror-story-syllabuses where the teachers won't allow the students to ever miss class and that should they miss class for any reason--including a death in the family--the student has to let the teacher know exactly when they will miss class within the first week of school. I've heard stories from my high school teachers about classes they were required to take where they only showed up on the first and last days of school to keep the class and take the final due to the simplicity of the classes. Even the four classes I'm taking now vary in how many times I can miss a class and how much missing a single class will affect my grade.

In one class, I can miss two days without my grade being affected. In another, I only have to attend the lab that is scheduled once a week and not any of the actual classes, which are three times a week. In a third, my grade will drop severely if I miss more than two classes. In the fourth, my participation grade will be affected no matter how many classes I miss.

This is all very concerning for a student who becomes very ill very quickly. To put it in perspective, I would always miss anywhere from three to five days a semester in high school due to strep throat. I would provide a doctor's note to the school and the school would understand that I was very sick. Everything was fine with the school, my teachers, and my grades.

In college, I had to go to class with a migraine, violent coughing, running nose, and nausea. I could hardly speak from the mucus in my throat. I was told that I looked "hung-over." I was only in the classroom physically, mentally trying to keep from vomiting even though I hadn't eaten anything in over 13 hours. I had to rush out of the classroom in the middle of a lecture, searching for the nearest bathroom. It was not fun. I did not want to be there. I wanted to sleeping in and having my medication on hand, focusing on getting better, but I couldn't. My health spiraled downhill after that class, forcing me to my room for the rest of the day. The next day, I couldn't go to class, my health worse and the medication making me far too drowsy to safely leave my room.

My mother has told me that if I am ever sick and scheduled to work, that I should call my job, let them know I'm sick, and show up anyway so that they can confirm it and send me home. Why is it that the places where I'm not investing my own money in my future care more about my health than the one place which is claiming both my money and my name for their prestige? Why is it that absences are not regulated by colleges like they are regulated in public education? Why is it that my grade will be affected whether or not I attend classes because I am not mentally there due to either health or grief and that I am not given a reprieve for it?

I'm going to look more into this and bring it up at the next Stetson SGA Senate. Stay safe, everyone.