This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SCU chapter.
It’s flu season once again at SCU! That means colds, fevers, tonsillitis and all that cool jazz will be floating around campus for a few weeks. Catching any one of these can be a real bummer. You’ll miss classes, events, and feel pretty awful. Avoiding illness is a challenge at any college campus, but it is possible. Here are some ways to do just that:
- Know that if you’re living in a dorm for the first time in your life, you’re probably going to get sick. It only makes sense. They key in this situation is to be wary of dorm bathrooms, kitchens, and lounges. Wash your hands in your own room after a visit to any of these places because those rooms are a petri dish of other people’s sickness.
- Carry hand sanitizer everywhere you go! This cannot be stressed enough. Use it after touching door handles, chairs, or even your significant other (no holding hands on the way to class). Honestly, this will make a huge difference, and once you get into the habit of constantly breaking out that little bottle, you won’t even need to think about it.
- Know who’s sick. Some people have pretty lame immune systems and they’ll get sick and stay sick all year. They constantly have stuffy noses or coughs, and yes, they’re dangerous. You’re going to want to avoid physical contact with these people as much as you can. Don’t make a scene about it, just don’t throw ‘em digits (high fives) when you see them. If contact is made, read rule #2.
- Going off that note, call out your friends who seem to be unaware of how they sneeze, because we don’t do sloppy here. Proper sneezing/coughing etiquette is to do so in the sleeve of your own shirt. I cannot stress your own shirt enough. I’ve been sneezed on before. It sucks. I’ve let loose on that person and I’m pretty sure that he has never sneezed on another person again. So yeah, be vocal about germ spreading.
- Get enough sleep. Sleep is the most gorgeous luxury in college and it is the key to staying healthy or getting over an illness. Catching up on those Z’s might make you miss a few Wednesday night outs but you’ll be thankful for the extra few hours.
- Perhaps the most important rule of all is to know when you are sick. No one wants to be sick, but sometimes you are and you have to deal with it. Be aware of how contagious you are so you don’t spread it to others. While being sick is already such a bummer, try to be aware of how you can keep it to yourself.
After all is said and done, the most important thing to be aware of during flu season is how your best friend is faring. Being sick away from home is probably one of the worst feelings you’ll ever have at college, so help your friends feel better when they fall ill. If your friend is sick, go make them tea or bring them soup. Stay healthy Santa Clara.