Last Friday I woke up and felt absolutely awful! I had a runny nose, sinus pressure, a huge headache, body aches and a sore throat. I felt like a walking Petri dish. The worst part about it all was that there were no warning signs this was about to hit me. Normally in college, you will have some tell-tale signs you may be getting sick. Usually, it’s a small scratch in the back of your throat, a slight runny nose or maybe just general drowsiness. But last Friday I just got knocked on my butt and the punch came out of nowhere!
The worst part was that my dad was in town that weekend visiting. My dad is such an incredible guy and whenever he comes to visit we always go on the best adventures and find cool things to do in the community. But there I was – a giant pile of sniffles. We did have a good time, I just wish I had been more up for some adventuring. His visit was much-needed and seeing him did make me feel better. (Side note: whenever your parents come to visit you in college, cherish it! They took time out of their schedule to come spend time with you because they love you more than you will ever know!)
So Sunday night I went to bed around 9 p.m., thinking that if I got a good night’s sleep I would be prepared to take on a day of classes in the morning. At that point I was feeling pretty gross but not too deathly. However, I woke up Monday morning and I felt like death. I couldn’t think because my head was pounding so much, I had no voice, I sounded like a chipmunk and my nose would not stop running. You know you’ve had a bad night when you still could barely sleep after taking a full dose of NyQuil. So what did I do? I skipped class.
Yup, I skipped class; I skipped all of them. On Monday all I did was sleep, eat soup, sleep and watch some Netflix. I don’t have class on Tuesday/Thursday which was super helpful because on Tuesday I did exactly the same thing. I slept, I ate soup, I slept and watched Netflix. I canceled all my lunch dates for the week, avoided all responsibilities, called out of work and decided to hole myself up in my room, hibernation style. On Wednesday I got up, went to class, and went straight back to bed. On Thursday I slept until 2 p.m. On Friday I finished my second Netflix series of the week.
Now, you are probably reading this and saying to yourself, “Isn’t that incredibly irresponsible? How can you do that? Is that even possible?” And to that I say: “I got this.” One of the most important lessons you will learn in college is to take time for yourself. Last week I took care of myself. I didn’t have any major assignments due, I was way behind on my Netflix and I was sick. I responsibly chose to shut myself in my room and because of that this week I am on top of my game and feeling 100 percent better.
