If you’re like me this time of year leading up to finals week, your life and mental headspace is tornado levels of crazy. When stress is this high, combined with everyone on campus collectively going through the sickness trenches, it’s bound to happen that you at somepoint during the semester will get sick. Even the healthiest person can be toppled by one frat party or a class with a cougher. As I type this from the comfort of bed, I give you some of my solutions to the fast track to feeling better!
Sidenote: If you are feeling like death is near or it’s been over a week since you’ve been unwell, I recommend seeking medical services. I am no doctor, but long term illness is no joke!
Listen to your body
You know yourself better than anyone. Don’t push yourself to be super active and social at this time. Hydrate and refuel with simple but filling food and drink. The dining hall has some pretty tasty soup and for those who don’t have a kettle or coffee maker, the brew has some tasty hot drinks. After getting your fill of sustanance, consider a hot shower and a nice uninterrupted nap (No mindless scrolling!)
But don’t slack on responsibilities
Finals will not stop for you even if you’re dealing with the sniffles. Prioritize your needs, but also map out a realistic plan for accomplishing homework and other tasks to best make use of your day. This can be done in a lot of different ways, so it may take a while to find something that works for you. I personally have always struggled with this, and have recently been taking the time to meet with those who work in our campuses Learning Commons to help me improve on this skill. Despite almost being through undergrad, I have found that it’s incredibly helpful to utilize these offices and resources to help me not feel so frustrated and frazzled. It’s a learning curve whether your sick or healthy. Any step towards progress is good progress!
Stock up on supplies…BEFORE you get sick
Throughout my time in college, my first aid kit has served myself well. As someone who is known to have everything from Narcan to dental dams, it makes sense I’d have a kit on hand as well. A first aid kit should be full of everything you need and extra. Having cough medicine, spare boxes of tissues, cough drops and vapor rub are just a few of the things that I keep on me in case of illness on top of the expected band-aids and ice packs. Plus not everyone has the sense to have supplies on hand. Even if you never have an emergency, being that person for your roommate or other friend could be lifesaving! Or at the very least, you’ll have grateful friends.
Invest in a air purifier or essential oils diffuser
Going off the last point, as someone who has been a proud user of both since sophomore year of college, I can say that the amount of times I have been sick has significantly decreased since using both of these. Not only do both cycle through stale campus living air, there are so many scented oils to fill your space with good smells and vibes. Plus it helps cycle out any other smells that you may not want anyone smelling. (iykyk).
Give yourself grace
Everyone in college has been where you are once upon a time. It’s nothing to get overly stressed about. Surround yourself with positive energy and even take a step outside to feel the sun and fresh air on your shoulders. Know that this isn’t forever, and that soon you will be back on track to being an academic weapon in no time!
Wishing you all good health and happy times these last few weeks of the semester!