There's nothing better than a nice, warm, sunny day with not a care in the world. The moments when you have no school, no work, no responsibilities except to finish the drink in your hand. You can sit back, relax, read a book or just take a nap, but either way, it's your time, use it how you want to.

That is, except when you're someone like me to gets a nasty cold the first month of summer break.

Being sick in the summer is awful. Why? Let me break it down for you:

You can't smell anything.

Why is this such a big deal? Half of the experience of going to the beach is smelling the salty air, the sunscreen, the low tide. When you take that away, the beach feels like an annoying plot of sand that is getting sprayed by water that's too cold to touch. Ever been to a State Fair when you can't smell all the delicious fried food? It's a good way to save money (and stomach aches).

You can't taste anything.

Food that is synonymous with summer includes ice cream, frozen lemonade, watermelon, hamburgers, hot dogs. Now imagine being given this food: great, right? Wrong. You can't taste it. And now it's sitting right in front of you, taunting you. Try as you might, you won't get the smallest hint of flavor thanks to your cold.

You can't breathe.

Ever tried swimming without being able to breathe? It's rough. Water gets all up in your sinuses and you choke and cough and generally hate the experience. Going for a run in the nice morning weather? Think again. You won't make it a mile with those clogged up lungs. Want to play a sport? Nope. Want to do literally anything? Good luck without having the ability to breathe.

Your nose is constantly running.

When I say running, I mean a weird mix of "clogged beyond comprehension" and "there is a faucet attached to my face". Either way, enjoying a nice break from school is hindered by the copious amounts of snot that will be all over your face. Blowing your nose on a summer date isn't fun, and neither is ruining a drive-in movie with sniffles.

All in all, being sick isn't any fun, no matter what time of the year it is. But there's something ironic about being sick during summer break, and that irony hurts. It hurts your sinuses, and it hurts the chances of you enjoying your break fully. Moral of the story? Take your Zinc before you run into these problems.