Senior government and politics major
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults between ages 18 and 64 make up 61 percent of all flu-related hospitalizations this flu season — almost twice as much as in the previous three seasons. Naturally, this should be an column advising students to get a flu shot from the University Health Center.
But let’s be honest, it’s impressive if college students get ready for the day, much less flu season. I want to tell you to go now to the health center and get the shot, because I have already been sick, and it is not fun.
I have to have realistic expectations, though. If the health center doesn’t have a Starbucks, you’re not going to go. Stamp Student Union — across the street from the health center — sells Starbucks coffee, but you still won’t go. On Route 1 there’s a Starbucks just feet away from the CVS Pharmacy, another reliable flu shot retailer, but you’re never going to go.
I spent all of last semester bound in this same limbo. Every other morning I’d wake up feeling as if I’d just eaten rotting trash. The symptoms would go away after a few hours, and I couldn’t seem to find time to figure out why I was always sick. Even when I spent a week eating quesadillas, burritos, cheeseburgers, cheesecake and ice cream and felt like actual death, it took until finals week before I realized I had become lactose intolerant. On some level I knew what was going on but rejected the truth.
The reality is that mommy’s not here to put her palm against your forehead and call the school for you while you settle down to watch cartoons. Planning in advance for illness and treating it when it impacts you is not a glamorous part of being an adult.
I have to admit to being a hypocrite, too. I went to class sick Friday. I had a quiz in a class that meets once per week, and I thought organizing catch-up work would be harder than just stumbling to class. I went home when I realized I was crashing, but I’m learning, like everyone else.
So consider going to the health center for a flu shot or if you’re not feeling well. Don’t just buy cough drops; pick up some specific medicine from the 24 Shop before you’re too sick to walk there. Most students don’t have a lot of trouble skipping class when they have even the slightest excuse. But if you’re hallucinating, and you’re still feeling compelled to go, here’s my controversial advice: Don’t go.
Emma Atlas is a junior government and politics and journalism major. She can be reached at eatlasdbk@gmail.com.
