Sick in College

I have four words total to say about being sick in college:

It happens.

It sucks.

I woke up two Thursdays ago on January 12 with that scratchy feeling in my throat. All feelings of invincibility left me — I wasn’t expecting this sickness. I shrugged it off, however. I thought I’d be better by the next day.

Flash forward one week and two days later: I’m still sick. I now know what it’s like to be sick in college. Oh, the joy.

More than anything it was my cough that killed me. This sickness literally gave me the best ab workout I’ve ever gotten in college — maybe even in my entire life. I was talking to a friend in my Humanities class, and he mentioned there being “some kid who was hacking up a lot.” Even my Spanish teacher pointed out how bad my cough was.

Being sick in college is much different from being sick at home. For one, there’s no homemade chicken noodle soup. It also takes a lot more motivation to get yourself to your 8am class. It means reorienting your schedule to make sure you get enough sleep.

However, I’ve learned to appreciate my sickness for three reasons.

1. It’s made me realize how weak I am, and how that’s totally okay,
if not amazing. The words “God help me” have never felt truer as I’m trying to climb up the way-too-long staircase that leads up to the SAC stairs or even
make the trek to main campus when I need to eat.

2. It’s made studying anatomy more interesting. Each time I cough, I can’t help but think about the cilia in my throat or the macrophages in my body. In the midst of my weakness, I really am filled with awestruck wonder at how powerful and complex our immune system is.

3. It’s made me appreciate the amazing friends I have. When I come back to my room, there’s at least a million people asking me how I’m feeling, offering me DayQuil, honey, lemons, tea, cough drops, healing oils of some sort, etc. Even the travel mug I’m using to drink hot water out of was a gift from a close friend. I’ve gotten love notes from my beautiful and awesomely wonderful roommate, and my sweet sister has stopped by numerous times with lemons, tangerines, and cans of chicken noodle soup.

“#soblessed” perfectly describes my life right now.

While I won’t take back my words about how being sick sucks (because it really does suck), I will say, even when sick, there’s a lot I have to appreciate. And for that, I am thankful because my sickness made me realize
that.